


In Another Time

by Kougayon



Series: ShuAke Week 2019 [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Chapter 5 is angst, Fluff and Humor, Kissing, M/M, Slow Burn, no beta we die like men, very small suicide mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2020-12-17 08:27:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 39,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21051347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kougayon/pseuds/Kougayon
Summary: He always believed he was cursed. Just a left over scrap of a soul that the universe never cared to bother with. Destined to never be by anyone’s side.Turns out he was wrong.But how is he supposed to accept that?





	1. The Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> My second entry for ShuAke Week 2019, Day 2: Soulmates! 
> 
> This is another fic that I’ve been working on for an entire year and finally after countless headaches and cups of coffee, it’s finally done orz 
> 
> And a giant thank you to [Lex/Cosmickatsu](https://twitter.com/cosmickatsu) for the adorable art featured in this fic!!
> 
> Please enjoy!!

The documentary is cut to a halt as the screen goes dark, followed by the mechanical whirrs of the motion projector entering sleep mode. 

“Well, that’s about all of the time we have left for today” Professor Chouno announces with the click of her remote. “We’ll pick this up on Monday when you all get back. In the meantime I expect those packets to be finished. They’ll count for a hefty portion of your grade after all. Have a good weekend.”

The shuffling of bags and chairs grinding against the floor signals the end of his Humanities Bio class. 

He pauses for a moment, waves of thoughts hidden all too well behind that pleasant face, before finally collecting his things within his briefcase and heading out of the door for his afternoon class.

  
  


The clock reads 12:42 P.M. as he dashes down the empty hall, black hair remaining unkempt from his abrupt wake up and various books clumsily held together in his hands while papers flew out of the half-open backpack slung around his shoulder, leaving a trail of documents in the young man’s hurry. 

His first class of the new semester was supposed to begin twelve minutes ago. He’d been putting off taking  _ Japanese Language and Literature  _ for a couple of years now since he first enrolled at the local university in Tokyo. Mainly because the only currently available professor who taught the subject was known for being a little off her rocker when it came to dealing with students. All the more reason to stress about being late already on the first day. 

_ Damm it, damn it, damn it, the professor’s gonna have my head for sure…All because I didn’t bother setting an alarm— Oh here it is!  _

After sprinting across the entire campus from the dorms, through the track field, into one of the many large, brick buildings, and up several stairwells of the east wing, he finally finds himself in front of the necessary lecture hall marked with the correct room number. Gripping the metallic handle with battered breath and a nervous hand, he hastily yet quietly pulls open one of the heavy wooden doors, and idly slides his way inside, disregarding the taped flyer advertising some fate-date app that detached and fell its way to the floor. 

The lecture hall is enormous. The wide open, oval shaped room’s interior was embellished by dark painted walls shadowed behind dark, red curtains that drape the walls in a loop shape manner. Dim lighting looming over the many rows of curved desks lined with cushioned chairs for each student. Down below, on the other side of the room is the teacher’s work desk accompanied by stacks of books and a large projection screen behind it. The late student spots the professor pacing back and forth spouting out her current lesson as she reads aloud the book in her hands. 

He’s surprised at how young the professor seemed. She looks to be about in her mid twenties, not much older than most of her students. She’s sporting a yellow-striped top with a long denim skirt and heels to match. Her dark, shoulder-length hair bobbing side to side as her head quickly snaps around to catch the clearly late student attempting to sneak in unnoticed. 

“ _ Ahem _ .” 

The professor made a point to cease her reading to outwardly address the tardy young man. Stopping him in his tracks, frozen. All eyes in the classroom suddenly turning to face him, probably curious at what idiot would dare show up late for Professor Kawakami’s class. The professor’s glare is icey and bores into him as she speaks. 

“Don’t think you can just show up unnoticed as if you weren’t fifteen minutes late. I’ve already taken attendance at the start of class.” 

“Er, sorry…” He swallows while rubbing the back of his neck, awkwardly. 

“ _ Sigh,  _ whatever don't worry about it. What’s your name?” 

Clearing his throat to answer, the young man speaks somewhat shyly, “K-Kurusu Akira.” 

The professor turned to dig out a clipboard from the pile of papers on her desk containing what Akira assumes to be the list of students enrolled. “Kurusu, Kurusu… Ah there you are” she says flatly while checking his name off with a pen…as well as appearing to write down something rather lengthy next to it. Akira is too scared to inquire about it though. 

“I’ll excuse it this one time, just don’t make a habit out of it okay?” The professors glare softens a bit. “Go take your seat. You should find your name taped to a spot somewhere in row five.” 

“Y-yes ma’am…” Akira sputters, grateful for the act of mercy. 

“Now as I was saying…” Kawakami turns her attention back to the book still gripped in her hands to continue her interrupted lecture. 

Most of the attention is turned back to the lesson at hand, save for some students who continue to stare at the frizzy haired boy. So many different faces watching at him now. Each one carrying an expression that varies between disapproving, pitying, or both. 

Amidst the darkness of stares, however, he does spot a familiar tuff of blonde hair, accompanied by a cheeky grin and a hand waving to him, sitting just a few rows down from where he stood by the entrance. 

Just like that, Akira’s nervous frown turnsinto an equally brazen smile at the sight of his best friend coincidentally being in the same class as him.

Sakamoto Ryuji, twenty-one. Same age as Akira. Star runner of the university’s track team. His major is more athletics focused as his dream is to be an Olympian level track runner some day. 

He and Akira had met a couple of years ago when they first entered the university as freshman. Neither one had any friends at the time as Ryuji was avoided by most for being branded a local delinquent and Akira had just moved to Tokyo from across the country. When the two found themselves stuck under one of the campus building canopies in the middle of a heavy rain shower, the pair couldn’t help but hit it off in conversation. They found they both had a niche for playing tricks and pranks. The two goofballs making themselves notorious around campus for their shenanigans against corrupt staff members and bullying jocks, earning Akira the title of  _ Joker.  _ Ryuji deemed it unfair that he got to have a cool nickname while he was still only known as  _ That Delinquent Kid _ so Akira insisted he be known as  _ Skull  _ whenever they coordinate their pranks. Akira and him had been close friends since. 

Adjusting his grip on his backpack, Akira quietly walks down the small set of steps over to where his friend was. 

“Hey, man! Looks like we scored the same class together!” Ryuji whispers somewhat loudly, his chest radiating a faint yellow displaying his friendly excitement. 

“Yeah, although this is row four… so we aren’t sitting next to each other I guess” Akira says disappointingly. What a shame. He was hoping he’d be able to have a study partner during sessions. 

The next is row five, so his spot should be somewhere right below. Akira stepped passed the various seats, some empty and some full, while scanning for his name. Pardoning himself quietly as he brushes by peers who are hard at work. His eyes eventually land on a propped up paper name tag labeled  _ Kurusu, Akira _ sitting idly in the middle of the long table. 

Ah, right smack in the middle of the room. Not too bad. At least here, he could listen and watch lectures better. 

He’s about to pull out the rolling chair and take his seat when he glances to the side and notices the person apparently assigned next to him. 

Oh. 

Oh God. 

An all too familiar mop of shaggy, chin-length brunette hair drapes over the shoulders of his tan peacoat and neatly adjusted black and white striped tie. Black gloves adorning both of his hands while the left one continues to take notes and the other seemingly twitches, probably at the prolonging of Akira’s agape staring. Even now he refused to look in his direction. Although the aura surrounding him almost  _ dares  _ him to say something. 

Akira whips his head around to look back at an equally disgruntled Ryuji when the blonde realizes the situation. His eyes squinting back at his friend in a mixture of twinge and nervousness. 

Shit. 

Of all people he had to be forced to sit next to for an hour and a half.

It just _had_ to be Akechi Goro. 

The famous  _ Detective Prince  _ or so they call him. He’s twenty-two, only a year older than Akira and yet he had already made a stable career out of his talents in law enforcement ever since he was a mere teenager. In just a matter of months his popularity had soared and he became a bit of a celebrity. Akira guesses it was no surprise that he would gain a bit of an ego from it all, never sparing so much of a glance at him or in any of his friends directions. Even now Akechi’s most likely agitated at having to sit next to someone like him. He’d probably already made a point of checking out the name tags of the students assigned next to him prior to class and scoffed at the sight of the notorious Campus Clown’s name taped to his right. Akira personally couldn’t care less. 

The frizzy haired boy ignored the brunette and pulled out the chair to take his seat anyway, keeping his eyes forward and away from the detective’s direction. Akechi may have been a pompous snob but that didn’t mean Akira would have to be hindered from his own studies. 

_ It’ll be fine. If we just ignore each other then there shouldn’t be any problems.  _

_ BZZ BZZ _

Akira was setting out his notebooks when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. 

Peaking his eyes up at the still lecturing Kawakami to make certain she wasn’t looking his way first, he took out the device to find a text from Ryuji. 

**Ryuji: ** Damn dude tough luck getting put next to HIM. 

Akira double checked to see the professor still carrying on with her lecture before lowering his phone under the desk to type a response. 

**Akira: ** Tell me about it… 

**Ryuji: ** Wanna see if u can change seats?? There’s still an empty one next to me??

**Akira: ** I would but the prof is mad enough. She’d def gimme hell if I had the nerve to ask smth like that after being late already

**Ryuji: ** :^(

Akira sighs and sticks his phone back in his front pocket. First he’s late to lecture and now there’s this uncomfortable situation. This semester’s already off to a bad start. 

The lesson carried on, mostly consisting of Professor Kawakami rambling on about the non-fiction novel in her hands. Everything was going smoothly until about halfway through the lecture when she turned to address the students. 

“Now I’d like everyone to turn to pages 78 and 79.” 

Wait. 

_ Shit.  _

Realization dawns on Akira that he very foolishly forgot to purchase the books required for this class, including the novel they’re currently reviewing. 

Great. 

Now not only is he late on the first day but he’s come completely unprepared. Oh well, he can always get it tomorrow. After all, it’s only the first day so they’re probably just going to go over some light reading— 

“I’m going to call on some people at random and ask them to clarify certain passages on these couple of pages. I want you to describe how you personally interpret their meaning or what you believe the author meant.” 

_ Fuck.  _

“Let’s see…” the professor carefully scans the room, eyes practically searching the depths of every students’ soul. 

Panic begins to settle in Akira’s stomach. God he’s such an idiot. He knew he should’ve bought every book prior to the first day of class. He knew he shouldn’t have blown his paycheck on the new Featherman Arena. He knew he should’ve came prepared, especially  _ this  _ class considering how strict Kawakami was known for being. Now he’s going to pay the price for it. 

_ Okay, calm down. There are well over a hundred people in here. There’s no way I’m gonna get picked— _

“Kurusu.” 

Akira's eye flare up in fear at the call of his name. 

“Second passage on page 78. Tell me your thoughts.” 

Akira says nothing. His heart racing and his mind buzzing with things to say and ideas on what he could do to escape this humiliating uni nightmare. He can’t just nonchalantly explain that he doesn’t have his book with him. He’s pretty sure Kawakami excusing his tardiness already drained her of any mercy left to offer.

Maybe he can make something up? 

No. 

That wouldn’t work either. She specifically said to  _ read _ the passage aloud and then give his opinion. He would only look like a fool. Of course he already does look of one at the moment with the longer he delays his giving of a response. 

If only he had done the smart thing beforehand and bought what he needed. If only he had the book with him, even if just for a moment. If only he could just borrow one—

Akira slowly turns his head towards the brunette sitting next to him. 

Akechi is still facing forward, eyes straight and staring at nothing in particular. Akira knows he’s not an idiot. Akechi  _ knows  _ he’s looking to him for help, silently pleading with the detective for the one-time use of his book. 

Yet he continues to pretend he doesn’t see the wide-eyed, frizzy haired boy staring at him out of the corner of his eye.

“Kurusu,” Akira’s eyes glance away from the stubborn snob to the somewhat irritated professor at the front of the room.“I asked for your thoughts on the second passage of page 78, if you please.” 

Akira  _ really  _ doesn't like to beg but this is a dire situation. 

He turns back to Akechi and to his surprise, finds the brunette now looking dead at him. Sitting up straight with his arms folded across the table in front of him. His glare is cold. Akira looks back and forth between the book and the detective’s eyes, making it obvious what he’s asking for in this moment of pure anxiety. 

Akira couldn’t help but wonder what kind of thoughts were rummaging through the other boy’s head at the moment. If he had to guess, it would probably be something along the lines of ‘wow would you look at this idiot’. 

The two have never gotten along but perhaps he’d be generous this time? 

Akechi, with the same serious look plastered to his overly pretty face, makes his answer clear with a quiet snapping of his own book closed. His gloved fingers tapping in tune against the pleather cover. Auburn eyes still boring into Akira’s grey ones. 

Figures. 

He honestly didn’t know what he expected. 

“ _ Sigh.  _ I’m going to assume you don’t have your book with you, correct?” says kawakami in a tone dripping with both irritation and mundane disappointment. 

Akira doesn't respond. He has no words. A look of pure defeat crossing his face as he stares shamefully back at the professor addressing him. 

“Meet me after class, Kurusu.”

He remains silent, pure embarrassment settling in the pit of his stomach. 

“Okay… Now then is there anybody  _ else _ who can share their thoughts with me? Preferably someone who actually came  _ prepared?” _

Ouch. 

He feels himself wince at that. How cruel. The rumors about this particular professor are true after all. 

Speaking of which… 

Akira glances over to find the detective facing the front again. Attention turned back to the lesson at hand while taking notes in silence. Akechi doesn't look his way again for the rest of the class. 

_ Asshole. _

  
  
  
  
  
  


“That  _ dick!”  _

Ryuji blurts in aggravation while slamming his stack of textbooks onto the cafeteria table. 

“The hell’s his problem anyway?!” 

Akira winces at some of the other students glancing over at Ryuji’s sudden outburst. The blonde had been pissed off the moment he explained the little skiff he had with Akechi in the middle of lecture. Ryuji’s anger is justified but does he have to be so loud about it? 

“Keep it down. I’ve had enough eyes staring at me today as it is…” 

“Oh.” Ryuji glimpses at the table of gossiping girls across the way staring at them and whispering about who-knows-what and rubbed at his neck in sudden awkwardness, “Sorry.” 

Akira sighs while turning over the yellow slip of paper in his hands, courtesy of Professor Kawakami. 

She had given him a pretty big earful as soon as he approached her desk after the lesson had ended. Scolding him in the importance of arriving on time and always having the necessary materials in preparation, the fact that he shouldn’t make a habit of relying on other students for their generosity, blah, blah, blah. She had continued on with the same repetitive points for a solid ten minutes before finally handing him off a write-up slip with a specific date and time penciled onto it. The professor demanded that he either attend a day of literature tutoring as his punishment or drop the class entirely and find another professor to teach him.

“I can’t act like it isn’t my own fault though.” 

“Still though—!” The blonde’s anger returns, “He didn’t have to go and be like  _ that.”  _

The memory of the brunettes icy glare is still embedded into his mind. That expression was unyielding and soaked in some form of distaste. The more he thought of the memory, the more he regrets breaking his own inner compromise by acknowledging the man next to him. 

“Point is,” Ryuji continues while simultaneously stuffing his face with several spoonfuls of rice, “The guy doesn’t have to be so stuck up ya know? I mean he coulda easily just let you see his book but instead he wanted to be a jer— OW!!” 

The track star is interrupted by a certain platinum blonde culprit flicking a harsh, manicured finger against his head, hands on her hips as she looks down at him with a scrunched face. 

“God, don’t chew with your mouth full—it’s gross!” 

“Don’t randomly assault the back of my head!” Ryuji snarls in reply. 

The two stick their tongues out at each other childishly as the girl opts to take her seat across from Akira, bushy twin tails bouncing as her pink lips quickly pulled into a smile at the frizzy haired boy. 

“Hey, Akira~!”

“Ann.” Akira nods in reply. He couldn’t help but let himself smile back in response to her optimism, chest glowing a slight red to match her own. 

Ann Takamaki. Fashion major and model for a local magazine agency in Tokyo. She’s viewed the two as her best friends since the beginning of her freshman year when the boys helped her out of a rough spot with a former sports medicine professor guilty of mistreating students and attempting to blackmail her. It’s because of their efforts that the three managed to get the bastard fired and thrown in prison. 

She’s normally not as keen on playing pranks as her two friends but the boys elected to call her  _ Panther _ anyway for her bright, perky tone and optimistic yet fierce attitude which never failed to cheer Akira up. 

All the more reason why Ann presses her lips together and her smile wavers when she notices his unusually glum face. 

“What’s got you so down in the dumps today?” 

Ryuji is already butting in with his own answer before he even has a chance to properly respond. “He got in a spiff with that Akechi guy in class today.” 

“Ah geez… Why is it  _ always _ him with you guys?” Ann sighs.

“Beats me.”

“You’re not picking on him or anything are you?” 

“We hardly even speak to the guy— hell he won’t even  _ look  _ at us!” The blonde responds, mouth still very much full of food. 

Ann lowers her brows. “I just don’t see why he’d act that way without a reason? I mean, maybe there’s a reason?”

Ryuji finally allows himself to actually swallow his lunch before speaking, “It's probably ‘cause he thinks he’s hot shit and too good for anyone else.” 

“Or maybe it’s because Joker was the reason he was stuck in a bathroom for a solid two hours at a party…” she replies flatly. 

Akira pouts, “Do You really have to bring  _ that _ up.” 

“Oh- right, sorry…”

The boy next to her resumes with his bickering, “Well that still doesn’t give him a reason to act so damn cold all the time.” 

“Come on! I mean sure he seems a little… stuck up; but that doesn’t mean anything? We don’t know much about him anyway…” 

“Well we know he was more than happy to let Joker here get written up for tryin’ to borrow his book in lecture!” Ryuji gestures to the frizzy haired boy across from them. 

Ann raises a brow in question, “Oh?” 

“I… forgot my own book so I tried borrowing his, but he just glared at me and slammed it closed. Now I got tutoring as punishment” Akira sighs at how the memory of the event keeps being pounded into his head in almost droll mockery. 

“Ain’t the first time he’s done this petty shit either.” 

The blonde curls a pigtail in thought, “Well, I mean, it’s his own book? That’s still not a reason to—”

“Remember the time some girl in his law class gave him a gift for Valentines and he tossed it in the trash?” 

“Well he didn’t know her—”

“That time he blew a kiss to some chick and she went flying across the courtyard?” 

“She was invading his space—!”

“When he stole a takoyaki off one of the lunch trays-“

“Ugh — why do you know so much about him anyway?! What are you, one of his crazy fans?” 

“As if! I just don’t care for the guy. Why are  _ you _ defending him!? You don’t know him that well either!”

Ann’s eyes trail down to her lap. The blonde had always been kind. Sometimes  _ too  _ kind. It was honestly amazing how she was always able to look past whatever rumor-crusted outer shells someone wore with a hope to possibly see a different side to them. Even someone as impossible to read as Akechi. It was how she was able to look past the rumors surrounding himself and Ryuji and become friends. 

“I’m not  _ defending  _ him… I just don’t like judging people without really getting to know them you know? I mean isn’t that what people did to you guys..?” 

That, he couldn’t deny. 

Akira first met the Detective Prince about a year ago when the brunette had transferred to this university. He only recognized him based on what he had seen of him in his interviews on TV. The Joker was curious about him and approached the young man at a party with a friendly smile and a cup of punch in hand, an offer of friendship to which Akechi actually smiled back softly and obliged by accepting the drink. They even had a small conversation going for a few minutes. 

That is until Akira, being the complete moron he is, didn’t realize that the punch he had offered the young man was actually the one he intended to hand to Professor Makigami in which he had spiked with a laxative as both a prank and payback for failing his last test over being exactly four seconds late to the exam room. 

Akira attempted to apologize but to no avail as the detective refused to speak with him afterwards. 

Akechi hasn’t exactly been fond of him since. 

Akira stares into his plate of curry, chin resting in the palm of his hand and mind wandering off more and more at the thought of the detective when the louder of the two blondes interrupt his thoughts. 

“Speak of the devil, there’s the smug asshole now.”

Akira turns his attention towards the entrance to find the source of their friend’s vexation. 

There he is. Still clad in his usual detective attire from earlier as well. He approaches the other end of the lunch line towards the selection of various fruits and grabs a single apple as well as a bottle of water. A table full of giggling girls across the room watches him as he walks over to the cashier to pay. 

“Do his fangirls ever give him a break?” Ann says, eyeing the rather large group of overly obsessive female students. 

“Nah” muffles Ryuji as he shovels more food into his mouth. “They’re all too obsessed with being his chosen fated partner or some crap.” 

He takes a swig of his soda before continuing, “I don’t get it either. Who’d wanna be  _ that  _ guy’s soulmate anyway— OW!”

Panther cut him off with a quick elbow to his ribs. “Hey, that’s mean! Don’t make fun of something like that!” 

The two carry on with their banter as Akira continues to watch Akechi. 

The brunette had set his apparent snack down on the metal counter and started digging into his pockets to pull out change. A few seconds later and he’s  _ still  _ rummaging through his pockets. Akechi pulls out his hands and sets the water aside with a look of solemn annoyance. Does he not have enough change? 

“Look all I’m sayin’ is that the dude’s a jerk.” 

“You know for someone who supposedly hates the guy you sure do talk about him a lot” Ann replies. “Ooo, what if  _ you’re  _ his soulmate~” 

“ _ Ugh,  _ don’t make me gag. I’d rather sit through one of your play auditions again than spend eternity with that assho—OW!”

Ann cut him off with another elbow to the same spot, “What’s that supposed to mean?!” 

“Would you stop hitting me— Uh, hey where are 

You going?” 

Akira ignores the question and gets up from their table to walk over to where Akechi was.

The detective’s hands are still buried in his pockets looking for change when the curly haired young man approaches the counter from behind and places a hundred yen coin in front of him. Akechi ceases his digging and looks up in surprise. Akira simply smiled him. 

On television, whenever the young man appeared for interviews, he always had this gleaming smile plastered onto his face. He’d speak so politely and kindly as if he was the most pleasant presence one could afford. Yet at the same time it felt so...fake. His charming demeanor, lively attitude, the prince-like way he’d present himself as if he truly came from some line of royalty; it didn’t feel like him. Then again, Akira wasn’t really sure what he’d define him as. The brunette was just full of mystery to tell the truth. It was almost as if he wore a mask of sorts. The curly haired boy wondered what lies beneath it.

He was hoping that Akechi had maybe forgiven him for his antics last year. It’s been more than a year after all. Surely the detective must have realized the prank was an honest mistake by now right? He was hoping that he would accept the offer and smile in return. Akira only ever saw his clearly fake smiles on TV. Part of him wanted to see the real one. One that was more genuine. More full of life. Something like the one he saw when he first met him at the campus party so long ago. He hasn’t seen Akechi make anything other than that usual, fake smile while on campus. He was hoping that maybe today he could change that. 

His hopes are crushed when the brunette’s surprised expression morphs into one of obvious dismay at the sight of the Joker. Never taking his glare off of him, he hands the cashier whatever change he dug from his body, grabs only the apple, and turns away to walk towards the door without so much as a single word. 

Akira’s shoulders drop and his smile diminishes. 

Figures. 

He honestly didn’t know what he expected. 

The detective is about to grab the handle of the door when a sudden screech yanks his attention to his left, 

“AKECHI-KUN, LOOK OVER HERE —“ 

The source of the awful noise came from one of the girls that was ogling the prince from the table earlier. She quickly advanced over to where he stood, grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and practically pounced on him, face-first towards his own only to be immediately repelled and bounced back at what seemed like bullet speed. By the universe’s grace, the shrieking bimbo fell to the cafeteria floor, completely rejected. 

“Aww… it didn’t work!” 

Akira catches the brunette looking down at the girl with a face of quiet disgust before shaking his head and finally walking out the door. 

Did Akechi have to put up with these sort of soulmate-crazed fangirls every day?

_ Yikes.  _

  
  
  
  
  
  


Later that day, the two boys decided to hang out around the halls. Akira and Ryuji both had a free period around this time so they often found themselves wondering around the school doing whatever. 

The two were walking the halls in boredom when the blonde lowered his brows in concern at his unusually mopey friend. “C’mon, man. Just ignore what that asshole did. It ain’t worth pouting over all day.” His statement was only met with a huff from the other boy. 

Akira couldn’t stop thinking about that look in the detective’s eyes when he attempted to hand him change. A hint of rancor laced into auburn pupils as they squinted back at the frizzy haired boy. Why reject such a simple act of kindness? It’s not like it was a prank. He was handing him  _ change  _ not a firecracker. 

Did he truly resent Akira  _ that much  _ for the punch bowl incident? Is it even worth being mad over something like that? Or was it something else about him that pushed Akechi into acting so snobbish and in his own league; or was the detective like that around everybody who wasn’t a talk show host? Akira couldn’t wrap his head around it. 

“I’m not  _ pouting _ . Just thinking.” Akira grumbles under his breath as they walk the bright halls of the university’s main building. 

The main building was the largest out of the campus. Consisting of four different floors ranging from ground level to roof top. Each level is lined with countless wooden doors leading into classrooms, each one surrounded by frost-tinted windows to give outsiders in the hallways a blurry glance into any of the lively rooms. Bright wooden flooring and tall baseboards covered every level as well. Waist-high black railings were placed along the outer edge of the floors which peered over into a wide open space with a view of every other level and their own many doors. Sunlight radiates through the enormous skylight that stretches high above the middle space and throughout its many corridors, granting the bright wooden ornamentation an even warmer color. 

Seems like some other students had the same idea as well for their free periods. Akira walks in his usual slouched posture as he watches the welter of students his age spread throughout the halls of both their current second floor, and the other three levels across the stretch of space under glass-tinted sunlight. 

Of course he isn’t pouting. Why would he? It’s not  _ his  _ fault Akechi is the way he is. Sure it was a little disappointing to see that the detective still holds some form of bitterness towards him; but that’s his own fault for being so supercilious. Akira has no reason to feel guilty… right? 

The blonde reaches his arms above his head into a stretch followed by a droned tone, “Whatever you say, man…” Skull’s lazy frown shapes into a mischief-suggesting grin as he continues, “but just remember — if you ever need someone to leave firecrackers at his doorstep, I’m your guy- OW!”

“Someone should leave firecrackers at  _ your  _ doorstep, Sakamoto Ryuji!” Ann half-shouts at the boy while punching his arm for the goodness-knows-how-many time’th today. “Where did you even  _ come from? _ ” Ryuji barks back. You really can’t leave these two alone for a second, huh? 

Ann twister a pig tail between her fingers, “I have a free period around this time too, you know — I thought maybe I could hang out with you guys a little more!” 

“Sure, if you can learn to control that arm of yours!” Ryuji instinctively flinched in expectancy of another merciless punch to his upper body. 

Meanwhile, Akira was too busy staring at the other students as they passed through the sunlit halls. It was honestly fun watching the weekly antics that went on around the halls during people’s free periods. A group of boys flicking pencils up into the ceiling to see who's fell short first, younger girls chit chatting aloud, study groups huddled together on benches with their books out as they went over assignments, all the while filling the corridors with cluttered sounds of laughter and talk. 

“ _ So have you ever done it?”  _

_ “Ugh I wish. No matter how many guys I try, I always just get bounced away.”  _

_ “I kinda just wanna know what someone else’s mouth actually feels like, honestly.”  _

_ “Yeah! I heard it’s supposed to feel all… electrifying! Or something!”  _

Across the way, the raven haired boy couldn’t help but hone in on a nearby conversation between a group of girls. They were babbling on about what he assumed to be soulmate related things. What it feels like to be truly kissed for the first time, held by another without a mysterious force repelling you away, connected with someone through an iridescent string by fate’s will. 

Apparently he wasn’t alone in his eavesdropping as Ann and Ryuji both peaked their heads out from behind their friend in curiosity. 

“What are they talking about?” The track star blurts aloud to either of his friends. Akira is the one to answer, “Sounds like more soulmate talk.” 

“Ooo — sounds gross.” 

“It is not  _ gross.”  _ Ann replies, voice becoming fluttery at the thought of the topic, “it's a serious thing! It’s supposed to be your eternal partner right? A mysterious stranger that you're destined to spend the rest of your life with — it sounds beautiful, like in a artsy, poetic kinda sense- cut that out!!” Ryuji was pointing a finger to his open mouth, making a series of mocking gagging gestures and sounds in response to the blonde’s spill. 

Poetic, beautiful,  _ fate.  _ Words that continued to ring in the raven’s mind like bells caught in endless tugs. The existence of these  _ soulmates  _ has served as a wild phenomenon for as long as human history can properly recall. An occurrence that continues to vex modern day humanity constantly. 

People have learned to embrace the idea of it over the years, though. From pop culture antics, to media marketing cheesy light switch products based on the  _ human lampions  _ matter, to people even making  _ careers _ out of it. Hell, the university he’s currently attending provides various classes pertaining to a major based on the topic. It’s called…  _ Kismet Psiences  _ or something cheesy like that. Akira laughs to himself at the thought of it. He supposes it’s a viable subject though. Although the thought of the whole thing does sound stupi-

_ CRASH _

“ _ You dumbass!! Now there’s trash everywhere!!”  _

Akira whips his head around at the tune of his interrupted thoughts to find the source of the sudden commotion. Across the way were two other students, one sprawled out on the wood floor and the other lying atop a fallen trashcan a few yards a away from his angry friend. “ _ I told you we should’ve done this in a different spot!!”  _ The fallen friend continues to yell at the other who is currently knocked out in a pile of trash. 

Akira can’t help but snicker at the sight. 

“Ugh…” Ann sighed, “are they really playing Bounce Kiss in the  _ hallway?  _ Aren’t they a little too old for that?” 

“Aw, you’re never too old for Bounce Kiss — kinda stupid to do it in the halls, yeah, but what’s it gonna hurt?” says Ryuji. 

“Clearly that guy’s rib cage...” Ann gestures to the student still draped over the metal can, groaning in pain. 

Ah, Bounce Kiss. It’s a pretty popular game among kids and teenagers and the like. It’s basically a game where two people run straight at each other, face first only to be bounced off by the mysterious force and get sent flying. Akira remembers playing it during his middle school days back in his old town. Is it immature? Absolutely. That’s the fun part, though. 

Akira pushes his glasses up with a smirk. 

“Let’s try it.” 

“What?!”

“Alright!!” 

“A-Akira, you can’t be serious! Do you wanna end up like  _ that  _ guy over there?!” Ann complains, arms now folded at her side and standing in front of the two boys in objection. “Oh c’mon, it’ll be fine. As long as we don’t do it near any trash cans nothin’ can go wrong right?” Ryuji nonchalantly assures her with a dopey grin. 

“That’s not the point! Akira -!?” She turns to protest at her raven haired friend, but is met with no response. He’s already turning to walk down the hall to find a good starting position. Ryuji follows by spinning to walk in the opposite direction. 

_ Sorry, Ann.  _ Akira internally apologizes in his head. Look, his day has been shit so far. He could use this to cheer up. Besides, it’s just a harmless game. 

What could go wrong?

“Keep going a little far back, dude!” Ryuji shouts to him, “aaand — stop! This a good distance!” 

Ann shakes her head, “This is so,  _ so  _ stupid.” 

The boys take their marks, facing towards one another and staring each other down as they ready their stances. 

With a perky smile practically stretching from ear to ear, Ryuji have the countdown from the other side of the hall, “one…”

The raven haired boy noticed some other students watching their little spectacle from afar, probably looking forward to seeing a second pair of idiots knock themselves out from some stupid kids game.

“Two…”

Ann groans aloud, fist clenched defensively against her chest and face contorted into an almost squeamish look, “Ohh, do  _ not  _ say I didn’t tell you so when both of you break a leg!” 

Ann was right, this  _ was  _ stupid. Incredibly stupid. It was probably going to hurt a lot too. Akira could care less, though. He hasn’t pulled off any shenanigans around campus lately. He could use the fun. It’s not like he was worried about actually colliding with anyone either. The odds of that happening are quite literally one in a few billion. 

“...Three!”

There’s his cue. 

In almost perfect sync, the boys kick off from their places on opposites sides of the hallway and sprinted, dashing towards one another at a brisk pace that only two active athletes can achieve. 

There they went, gunning down the lengthy space, both boys heading straight for the other. The sound of shoes stomping rapidly across the wooden floors like echoing thunder as they were quickly approaching the other, face first. 

Akira readies himself for the inevitable bounce. This much force was definitely bound to send them flying. 

Getting closer.

Here it comes…

Almost there —! 

And then it happens. 

In what seemed like the blink of an eye yet a scene portrayed before Akira’s very eyes in slow motion, with absolutely no warning whatsoever — one of the classroom doors swings open — now standing firm in the way of the boy’s running just as they were getting way too close. 

And by complete chance, by an absolute horrible stroke of luck, Goro Akechi just  _ has  _ to be the one walking casually out of the room. A book held in one hand as he nonchalantly steps out at entirely the  _ wrong  _ time, not even aware of the impending doom literally approaching him. 

Of course. 

Of  _ course  _ it has to be  _ him.  _

It was all so sudden though. Neither of the boys had a chance to stop as they were already running towards their unexpected target at peak momentum. 

The loud, booming sound of poor, poor Ryuji body slamming into the thick, heavy wood on the other side of the door from where Akechi stood immediately startles the brunette and causes his head to turn towards the noise, extremely curious as to what the hell just happened. 

Then he turns again, now facing the oncoming frizzy haired boy heading straight for him. 

Akira tried so hard to put on the brakes, but it was too late. 

He was bound for impact. 

All Akira can do is accept his fate and pray that the detective doesn’t file some sort of restraining order against him after he inevitably goes flying against the door by mysterious force. 

However, that isn’t what happens. 

It feels like time had slowed for both him and Akechi in this moment. Akira’s face was now inches from the brunette’s — but rather than feel himself be repelled like he was supposed to, he feels himself being…  _ pulled in? _

No — wait… What’s going on-? 

His vast thoughts of confusion are cut off by the sudden contact of lips against his own. A new kind of mysterious force going to work as it pulls Akira deeper and deeper into the warmth of Akechi’s mouth. The raven watches the detective slowly register what is currently happening with equally widening eyes. An expression of pure shock and bewilderment quickly etching itself across his paling face. 

They’re kissing. 

They are…  _ kissing.  _

Why are they  _ kissing? _

_ How  _ are they kissing _ ?? _

His thoughts are a storm, unexpected and raging and swirling inside his head with a million questions. 

There isn’t any time for questions though as the boys both collide, the force of their momentum pushing the door out of their way and completely against the wall as well as whoever was stuck behind it. 

The two fall with each other to the floor, lips still locked in a magnetic embrace with Akira lying frozen atop the brunette. 

Akira manages to weakly pull away despite the weird magnetic feeling still trying to hold him in place against Akechi’s surprisingly warm lips. 

Now he’s staring down at him, both of their breathing heavy yet ragged from the pure shock. 

Akechi is staring back into him. His eyes as wide as dinner plates. His jaw is dropped and his mouth stays agape. Akira can actually see the thoughts slowly formulate in his mind through the window of his eyes. He’s confused; and obviously shocked — but his expression also looked almost…  _ Scared. _

Akira tries to untighten his throat to say something, but Akechi is already acting on his own. He quickly pushes the raven off of him and rushes to stand up, balance all out of whack as he jankly runs down the hall and out of the nearest exit door. Leaving Akira on the floor. 

Now he’s lying on his back. Arms and legs spread unevenly to his side as he stares up at the ceiling. He can hear Ryuji a little ways away weakly push the door away as he slides to the floor, groaning and possibly with a mild concussion. 

The storm clears inside of his head. His mind finally registering the entirety of what just went down. The tightening in his throat loosens and he finds himself able to speak words again. 

“Fuck.” 


	2. The Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goro is an emotionally constipated stubborn ass who needs a little bit of convincing from some people

  
Goro runs, practically sprinting down the halls and flights of stairs. His mind is racing and his feet avoid almost tripping themselves a few times. Stumbling his way across the grassy terrain of the courtyards across campus as all he desperately wants is to get back to his dorm room. 

His room. 

He just wants to get to his room. 

He just wants to lock himself inside, away from everything else where he can be safe and alone with his thoughts. Maybe he’ll skip class tomorrow. He’ll likely have to. After all, there’s no way he could show his face around campus now. Not anytime soon. Not after what just happened. 

Goro doesn’t even want to think about it. 

He doesn’t want to think about what just happened nor what it means. 

People are staring at him as he speeds by. He doesn’t blame them, after all he probably looks like a goddamn lunatic right now. The pretty and perfect Detective Prince in an array of odd distress. At the same time though, he doesn’t care. He doesn’t want to care about how they think of him. Let them stare he thinks. Let them see the real Goro Akechi for once. Hell why not? A weak little boy overpowered by fear of abandonment and insecurities, now eruptured yet still hidden as a shadow beneath his mask. 

How he wishes he could take off the mask for once. 

After what felt like an endless journey across the university campus, but was really only a five minute sprint for his life, Goro finally makes it to the sanctuary of the dorm houses. A separate section of the campus where inside, small, wooden doors leading into individual dorm rooms were lined up next to one another in rows. A place where the brunette can hide away from the world. Thank God these rooms are single-person only. He can’t imagine having to deal with roommates at a time like this. 

Goro practically throws open the door to his room and bolts inside, forcing the wooden structure shut with his back pressing flat against it. 

He’s out of breath, exasperated from the sprint here as his adrenaline finally lowers and his exhaustion catches up with him. Yet his heart continues to race and pound against his soul. He feels as if he’s being crushed as the weight of fresh recollections slowly begins to catch up with him and flood into his mind. 

His Civil Procedure class had just ended. He was the first to pack up his things, grab hold of the metallic handle, and open the door to exit. The heavy door had extended outward fully when a powerful force thudded loudly behind it, startling the brunette. 

When he turned, he found Kurusu running straight for him, and then pulled closer. Everything was a blur at that moment. They crashed to the floor. Goro looked on in horror at the realization of the event. 

Kurusu kissed him. 

Kurusu…  _ kissed _ him. 

But that’s  _ impossible _ , right?? How could they have kissed?! Why didn’t they repel from each other? Everyone else who ever tried to kiss Goro met their timely fate against a floor or a nearby wall; but Kurusu… Kurusu did not. 

But, only soulmates are able to do that, right? It would’ve been impossible otherwise. Only fated partners can make such intimate physical contact with one another. 

Does that make Kurusu his — 

Goro holds his head within his hands as he slowly slides down the door, curling himself into a crouched, sitting position on the floor. Tears begin to well up in his eyes. His breathing turns to quiet hiccups as his mind slows down and reality dawns on him. 

Admittedly, the detective never actually expected to have a soulmate. He had always assumed he would turn out to be one of those rumored, cursed individuals who supposedly bear no partner at the other end of their red string. The fact that it turns out he  _ does  _ have a fated partner. The fact that it just  _ had  _ to be someone who likely hated him. 

This is his worst nightmare. 

What he feared most had apparently came true. 

Fate really is cruel to him. 

What made him ever believe anyone would want him? No one has ever wanted him. Not his father, nor his mother. Not his peers. Not society. Not any of his foster parents. Not the adopters from the orphanage. Not his closest friend from the past. 

And now, not even his own  _ soulmate  _ wants him. 

He truly is an idiot — 

** _KNOCK KNOCK_ **

“Gah—!” The sudden bang against the very front door he leans up against startles Goro away from his sobs. He lets go of his head and slowly turns to face the door from his sitting position. He waits for a moment before making so much as another movement. 

“...Hey, uh, Akechi?” 

That voice, is it…? 

“It’s, you know… Kurusu?” 

Goro quickly scrambles to his feet and freezes for a moment. What is  _ he _ doing here? Come to mock Goro even more for what just happened probably. The moment he opens that door he’s willing to bet Kurusu will just  _ laugh  _ at him. Everybody else did in the past, why would he be any different? How did he even find his dorm anyway? 

Goro crosses his arms taught against his chest and shouts firmly at the door, “Go away.” 

Silence. 

Then, he hears an almost obnoxiously loud sigh from behind the door. “Akechi, please… I just want to talk —”

“I have nothing to say to you” Goro replies, turning his back to the door as if Kurusu could actually see his dismissive body language. “Look, we can’t just ignore what just happened. As much as you may not like it, it is the way it is and it’s not like we can change it, so…” 

Goro doesn’t care. That’s exactly  _ why  _ he doesn’t want to talk to him. Because he  _ know  _ this is the worst thing that could’ve possibly happened to him and he  _ knows  _ that this just means he’s going to be alone forever and he  _ knows  _ there’s absolutely nothing he can do about it. 

Another sigh, a bit softer this time. “Please don’t run away from this. I know we’ve never really gotten along, but, well…” What’s with that shrunken tone? Isn’t he supposed to be here to mock him? Shouldn’t he be snickering behind that door? 

Goro’s curiosity gets the better of him. He unfolds his arms and slowly turns towards the door. He approaches it to peer through the keyhole with a single eye. 

The other boy looks like shit. His head is angled down towards the floor so he can’t see his face. Hair in disarray and clothes looking rather rumpled. Did he not bother to clean himself up? He looks almost out of breath too. Did he run straight here after Goro? 

The sudden motion of Kurusu raising his head and firmly placing a palm against the door startles the brunette. He’s looking dead at the peephole now. It’s almost as if he can see Goro watching him. 

“I’m not leaving until you actually  _ talk _ to me. You’re not the only one shocked by this, you know. This involves me too!” The frizzy haired boy retreats his hand and takes a step back, eyes still boring into the tiny peephole. “I’ll stand here all night if I have to. I don’t mind.” 

What a stubborn idiot. 

Was he always like this? 

Why does he even  _ want  _ to talk with him anyway? Why pretend to care?

Goro hugs against the door from behind and takes a shaky breath. He extends an arm and reaches for the metallic handle, pushing down on the lever and slowly, cautiously, pulling the door open slightly. The mess of a raven still standing on the other side is what he finds, except now with a surprised expression. 

Goro peeks at him from a hiding spot behind the open door, expression dripping with wariness. Kurusu only stands there. What an idiot. Is he going to come in or not?

Kurusu huffs, hands on his hips, “Finally.” 

Oh wait. 

Oh God he’s actually coming in. 

He barely even gets to take a single step towards the door before immediately having it slammed shut in his face. 

He almost trips from startling back, “What — Hey--!!” 

“I said leave me alone” the brunette replies, voice muffled behind the wood barrier. 

“You’re the one that opened the door??”

“Fuck you.”

“Already? Well, honey if you insist —” Goro doesn’t even give him a chance to finish that sentence as he opens his door again just to throw a book at him before immediately closing it back, “Ow?!” 

“Get away from me before I call campus security.” 

“Oh,  _ come on.  _ I just want to  _ talk!!”  _ Kurusu shouts back, visibly annoyed. The raven haired boy continues to stand firmly in place with his foot tapping the ground impatiently. “You can’t keep running away from this, Akechi —”

“Hey, you.” 

The Joker spins around in surprise at a sudden voice behind him, it was one of the university’s security guards. The large, rather burly man approaches him calmly. Huh, that didn’t take long. 

“We’ve been getting noise complaints about some student shouting in the halls passed curfew hours. I’m afraid I’m going to have to escort you to your room if you don’t keep it down.” 

“What?! But  _ he’s  _ the one who threw shit at me!!” He continues with his shouting. He really is an idiot, huh. 

Goro watches through the peephole as the gruff security guard grabs Kurusu by the shoulders and almost comically drags him down the hall, the other boy still shouting at Goro the whole time. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Goro didn’t show his face around campus as much after that. 

For the remainder of the week, he practically snuck himself around the school grounds. Going straight to and from his individual classes, never once idling or taking the time to lollygag as he usually did between free periods. There was one class, however, he had been deliberately skipping: Kawakami’s. Also known as the one class he had with Kurusu. 

Obviously it was all an almost overly effortful attempt to avoid the other boy completely. 

Admittedly, Goro feels ridiculous. The whole situation feels almost childish. He shouldn’t be forced to run around like an inane lunatic around the university grounds purely because of one boy. 

Although that ‘one boy’ also happens to apparently hold a major, ineluctable and eternal connection to his very soul. 

He just can’t get a break, can he?

The detective sighs as he walks across one of the campus courtyards to a nearby bench shaded under a tree. He sits down, tired. Tired of speed-walking halls and deliberately avoiding anyone with curly dark hair and glasses. Perhaps the slight shadow spread over the bench will keep him hidden from a certain frizzy haired trickster who may be wandering around. 

He allows his thoughts to wander as he unscrews the cap of his water bottle to take a lengthy swig. 

Come to think of it actually, he doesn’t recall even seeing Kurusu around school lately. Not since their last, rather awkward encounter in front of Goro’s dorm room that resulted in him being dragged away by security. Which is strange. It’s not as if Kurusu would necessarily go out of his way to avoid Goro himself or lay low, especially considering the way the other boy would loudly make his presence quite known for an occasion as simple as entering a room. And yet, he has yet to see even a sign of him as of late. 

Definitely strange—

“Uh, Akechi-kun?” 

“ _ BLUGH,”  _ the brunette sputters and nearly chokes on his water in surprise, head turning towards the source. 

It’s that blonde girl with the twin tails…Goro recalls seeing her hang around the raven a few times. She must be one of Kurusu’s regular friends. What does  _ she  _ want? 

“Oh — I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you” the blonde shakes her head apologetically as Goro coughs remaining water out of his lungs. “You okay?” 

Goro shoots a chastising glare at her, voice still a bit croaky from his coughing fit, “What do you want?” 

“Well, um, I-I’ve been wanting to, uh, talk to you!”

“About?” The brunette is already impatient. 

“My name is Takamaki Ann and… I’ve always wanted to know more about how you do your, uh, work! I’m just such a biiig fan~”

“I don’t know what’s worse, your acting itself or the fact that you honestly believed you could fool a top ranking law student with it.” 

The blonde chokes at that. 

“This is about Kurusu, isn’t it?” 

Ann sighs, taking a seat next to the detective. “Sort of… I really wish you would give him a chance. He’s just as shaken up about this as you are, you know.” 

“I don’t want to” he says flatly. 

“Well, more importantly, I hate to see how badly it’s been affecting the both of you. Especially you. All you’ve been doing for the last few days is sneaking around campus like some kind of creep. It doesn’t look good for you.” 

Goro winces a little. He knew people definitely took notice of his absence in some places but, had he really been coming across as anomalous? 

“Soo, I wanna try to lift your spirits a bit. Let me take you out around Tokyo, as friends! Just to hang out and get your mind off of things for a change.” 

Is this girl out of her mind? She’s hardly known him for even five minutes and she’s offering to be best friends with him or some cheesy nonsense. He has more pressing things to deal with right now anyway—

“Aaand before you say no…” Takamaki produces a rather bulky stack of paperwork from her lap bag and waves it in front of Goro somewhat tauntingly. “Kawakami noticed your absence too. That’s why she’s letting you off with some missing assignments and extra credit stuff to make up for everything you’ve lost,  _ if _ you hang out with me.” 

“The  _ professor  _ is in on this too..?” 

Takamaki doesn’t say anything and continues to wave to papers side to side, smile beaming with an air of predetermined victory. 

Goro groans. Fate really, really hates him. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Much to Goro’s surprise, he actually ends up having quite a bit of fun with this girl on their little escapades through Tokyo. 

Their first order of business was that she insists on him calling her ‘Ann.’ Second order was that Goro wouldn’t have to talk about this stupid soulmate ordeal at any point in their time together. The blonde happily complied to the established terms. 

The two explored a variety of places. They had ventured into underground mall area where they proceeded to practically raid every store, from the designer booths, to clothing, to jewelry stands, to Ann dragging the brunette to a local crepe shope above ground. Turns out they both share a rather equally large sweet tooth in common. It was just a simple outing, but something Goro hardly ever had the chance to genuinely experience. Especially considering how the entirety of this week had been treating him, this was a good change of pace. It made him feel not so alone for once. 

It felt nice. 

To have a friend, that is. 

“Hey, how do you feel about coffee?” 

“Hm? Oh, it’s a favorite of mine actually. Why do you ask?” 

Ann perks up at his response, almost as if she had been expecting it. “I know this great place in Yongen-Jaya that I know you’ll just  _ love _ . They have the  _ best  _ lattes, and the barista is suuuper nice.” 

“Lead the way then” Goro smiles. 

Ann proceeds to lead the oblivious detective down a few alley ways across from central Shibuya. Goro lets his eyes wander to the tightly compacted buildings practically smushed together to make for a neighborhood. 

Eventually, they come to a stop in front of a not-too-shabby store front, a few plants scattered around the entrance and a propped up wooden sign board listing off the specials of the day. Goro glances upwards at the somewhat worn-down sign hanging above the cafè. 

‘Leblanc,’ huh? 

Ann holds the door open for him and he steps inside without much thought, eyes wandering over each of the intricate pieces of decor lined up along the walls and countertop before stopping to see a pair of hands washing mugs. His eyes trail up further to see in full view of his barista for the evening and when the sudden realization hits him like a god damn train his eyes widen as he drops every shopping bag in his hand. 

His head immediately whips around to see that Ann is nowhere in sight. He practically lunges for the door knob in a futile attempt to aggressively jiggle it open.  _ Locked.  _

_ That traitor!! _

_ “ _ Oh hey” the voice from behind the counter calls. 

Oh no. His breathing is picking up. He feels cornered, trapped almost. He really wants to leave. 

“Have a seat, I’ve already got the brewer going just for you.” 

He really, really wants to leave. 

Goro turns around to see those obnoxious gray eyes beaming at him invitingly,  _ mockingly.  _ His eyes quickly scan the room for anything,  _ anything.  _ A window, another room, a hallway. The raven’s calls for him fall on deaf ears as the detective runs to the other side of the room to try for the bathroom door where maybe he could at least hide until the place closes, but alas it is also locked. Why does everything in this place have to be fucking  _ locked.  _

Screw the bathroom. He’ll try for the stairs next to him— 

** _“MROW—”_ **

“Agh—!” He nearly stumbles when a cat seemingly pounces for him from the top of the stairwell only to land behind him and make its way to the counter top and into the waiting baristas arms to be soothed. 

“Holy shit would you just  _ calm down.  _ You’re acting like some kind of wild animal.” 

Goro huffs. Of course he’s being ridiculous. This whole situation is ridiculous. He doesn’t want to be here. 

Kurusu’s expression softens. “Please sit down. I won’t bite.” 

The brunette takes a deep breath, and begrudgingly grudges over to the counter to take his place atop one of the wooden high chairs. 

The raven looks at him almost shakingly, hands fidgeting a bit. Is he nervous? Maybe he didn’t expect to get this far with getting Goro to sit down so easily. 

Now it’s his turn to take a deep breath. Goro watches him collect his thoughts in his eyes. 

“So, we should do something about... _ this.”  _ He gestures between the two of them as well as their lips. Goro grimaces at the memory of the event in the hallway over a week ago. 

“What’s there to be done? Don’t pretend to be interested in my well-being all of a sudden just because of this.” 

“God, do you  _ hear  _ yourself?” Kurusu groans. “Listen, like it or not, we’re—”

“Don’t finish that sentence.” 

The raven actually looks offended at the sudden protest. Goro still doesn’t want to hear it. Apparently that isn’t stopping the spiteful asshole from finishing his words in the most droll way though as Kurusu straightens himself and leans over the counter to elevate his words. 

“We.” 

“Stop.”

“Are.”

“I said NO.”

“Soul.”

“You are obnoxious and I hate you.”

“Mates.” 

The last part is accompanied by an extravagant blowing of a kiss directed towards the brunette. 

“Oh would you look at that, you didn’t get blown away. I wonder why.” 

A very deep scowl etches itself onto Goro’s features. Never in his life has he wanted to blow someone away with an air kiss of his own just for the sake of shutting them the fuck up as badly as right now at this very moment. But of course, it wouldn’t work. And he couldn’t deny the reason why. 

“Why are you even doing this… What would you even gain out of being with me anyway?” 

Now this statement has the raven taken aback even harder. 

“G-Gain? What the hell do you think love _ is _ —?”

“So you dare call  _ this  _ love? If this is ‘love’ then I don’t want any part of it.” 

The barista sighs, clearly agitated. “You are  _ impossible. _ ”

“Then give up. This entire ordeal is pointless.” 

Goro swears he thinks the raven was about to scream just then. Or slam a fist, or rip out his own hair, or throw a mug...anything. Instead, the boy on the other side of the counter simply unravels his fist and strokes the gentle fur of the black and white cat laying cozily atop the counter space, purring against the boy’s knuckles as if to purposely soothe him. 

“Look, obviously this means we’re supposed to like... like each other...or something. So, maybe this whole time we’ve just been...misunderstanding one another. Which is why I wanna talk to you and at least  _ try  _ to understand you. Basically I just wanna… get to know you more? But I can’t do that unless you actually give me the chance to do so.” 

The younger boy’s words sound genuine for once. Goro doesn’t recall ever seeing the notorious campus trickster act so... _ serious.  _

“You mean to tell me you wouldn’t trade me for somebody else?” Goro says, voice low.

Kurusu stares at him before sighing, “Akechi, would you  _ please  _ just give me a chance?” 

Is he actually telling the truth? For nearly all of Goro’s life, he’d been stepped on. Manipulated. Deceived. And ever since he was a child, ever since he had finally ripped himself from under the weight of constant foster homes, he silently promised himself to never grow attached. Never allow himself to any sort of vulnerability.  _ Never again _ , he’d always said. 

But, he supposes that this time it may be different. 

The detective sighs, a hand outwardly dragging itself along his face in tiresome debility of what he’s 95% sure is bound to just be a repetition of past disappointment. 

“...Fine.” 

Kurusu claps his hands together and beams out a bright smile. Well his mood sure did brighten up rather quick. 

“Good! I’m going to come up with some ways for us to get to know one another a little better then. I’ll text you the details— Oh wait hey I’m gonna need your phone number.”

Goro stares at him sternly. 

“ _ Don’t  _ give me that face. You already agreed to my bullshit.” 

“I don’t see it written in fine print blue ink anywhere.” 

“Akechi _ !!”  _

“Ugh, fine just stop screaming for once.” 

The two boys take out their phones to exchange contact information. Albeit Goro is somewhat reluctant to do so, but Kurusu is right, he did agree to try this. Begrudgingly. 

Kurusu looks up at him, “Hey can I put some cute emojis around your name—”

“No.”

“But, they’re just hearts—”

“Disgusting. No.” 

“Well you’re no fun.”

Goro scoffs, amused. “I’m so sorry that I don’t find your infantile gestures amusing.” 

“Sheesh. If we’re gonna be life partners, I’m definitely gonna have to work on pulling that stick out of your ass.” 

Goro starts, “Excuse me!?” 

“I’m just saying, I’m definitely gonna get you into pranks. Promise you.” 

The absolute asshole has the honest to god nerve to look smug as he winks at the brunette. 

Goro laughs at him, bemused and mocking, “If you think you’re going to convince  _ me  _ to throw water balloons filled with piss at teacher dorms, then this relationship is already heading for disaster.” 

Kurusu ignores his protest and continues with further questions. Reminding the detective to actually show up to class tomorrow morning. That they can’t ‘bond’ unless he’s there. Goro is still convinced that this is going to end up being the most inane thing he’ll ever regret partaking in. 

“By the way, I think we should start by getting on a first name basis maybe. Can I call you Goro—?”   
  


“Absolutely not.”   
  


“Great. We’re off to a great start.”


	3. The Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These boys are absolute DISASTERS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops I forgot to update last night, got caught up in some family drama, sorry!

Akira is pleased to see that Akechi actually took his advice and bothered to show up for class the next day, finally. Honestly, he still can’t believe that it took the guy nearly two weeks. Surely Akira isn’t _ that _ unbearable to be around. 

He watches with brightful eyes as the brunette walks through the large wooden doors of the lecture hall and spots him waving to him from down below. 

He wears a slight scowl upon his face as he walks over to take his seat. 

“Well, well, look who decided to finally grace us with his presence” Akira teases. 

“Your Takamaki friend, before her betrayal, informed me that Kawakami was willing to give me another chance at make-up assignments. I’d be stupid to pass it up.” 

“Pretty wild how you almost dropped a whole letter grade all because of this handsome face” Akira grins and makes a purposely obnoxious gesture to himself. 

“Be quiet.” 

  
  


The lesson continues on as usual. The raven however, finding himself to pay more attention to the easily disgruntled boy next to him than the discussion of some non-fiction novel. He internally deems that annoying the brunette should take more priority at the moment. 

“Hey,” Akira whispers. 

Akechi’s eye twitches slightly, but ignores him. 

“Hey, Mr. Detective…”

The other boy sighs through his nose, doing his damnedest to not acknowledge him. He probably finds him annoying. Akira finds it funny. 

“Heyy—” 

“_ What??” _

“Just thought I should let you know that I’ve got our dates picked out. I’ll text you the details” he says while scooting closer to the brunette. 

Akechi moves his chair back a bit, clearly annoyed. “You’ve said that already, but sure.” 

He returns his focus to the work ahead of him, scribbling notes and filling out form assignments while the raven continues to stare at him. 

“I think you’re gonna love it~”

“Uh-huh, I’m sure I will” the detective says flatly. 

This is really fun. 

Akira rests his chin in hand atop the desk, scooting his chair even closer to the boy next to him than before. To which Akechi just simply eyes him as if he’d just offended his great ancestors and moves away in response. 

Akira follows anyway and moves closer and closer. The detective growls slightly and continuously inches away each time until eventually bumping into the student next to him. 

The guy looks at him and raises a brow. Akechi simply smiles and quietly apologizes as he removes himself back to his original place, snapping his head around to shoot an accusing glare at Akira. 

This is _ really _fun. 

How far can he take this, he wonders?

Akira is already at it again with invading his personal space once more, “Hey let’s bond a little bit. I ask one question and you ask me.”

“I thought we were going to save that for the _ date” _Akechi grits through his teeth. 

“What’s your favorite color?” 

The brunette sighs and shakes his head, turning back to the notes before him. 

Akira gestures to his writing hand, “I didn’t know you were left handed.”

“I’m actually ambidextrous— Would you just _ shut up!!” _

“_ Boys!” _Their heads whip around to catch Kawakami glaring at them. “Mind keeping it down?” 

Well this is quite the switcheroo from his first day in here. He’s about to spin around to bombard Akechi with more torturously annoying questions, but the brunette holds a hand up to his mouth, forcing him to be quiet. Big mistake forgetting your gloves today, Mr. Detective. You underestimate your soulmates capabilities. 

Akira’s tongue pokes out to lick a quick stripe across Akechi’s palm. 

“EW!!” He pulls back and shrieks in disgust. 

“BOYS—” 

They both flinch at Kawakami’s foreboding, unforgiving rage. 

  
  
  


**Date #1**

  


As promised, Akira messages him later that day regarding their scheduled date he had planned. Albeit he leaves the specifics to be rather vague for the sake of surprise. Much to the brunette’s disliking, of course. The only clues to their affair for the evening are a time and section of the train station they are to meet at. He can tell that Akechi isn’t exactly fond of being left in the dark, but Akira doesn’t want to give it away so easily. 

He wouldn’t miss his initial reaction for the world. 

It’s already evening by the time their lengthy train ride comes to an end and they arrive to the hustling bustling avenues of Odaiba Seaside Park. 

Akira pulls Akechi by his lower coat sleeve across the colorful brick-paved walkways until finally coming to a stop at their destination of what is apparently going to serve as their first bonding experience together. 

“Ta-da!”

“A...Ferris wheel?” Akechi puzzles. 

“Yeah! I haven’t been on this thing in years, but I heard around town that it was a popular spot for couples. Come on it’ll be fun—!” 

Before Akechi even has a chance to snap out of his odd daze to properly respond, Akira is grabbing his sleeves once more to pull him towards the ticket gate. They pay the visitor fee and are escorted to one of many colorful, empty cars. 

Still holding onto the fabric of his coat, Akira steps foot onto the car. His face twists into confusion when he feels his grip pulled away so suddenly. He turns to see Akechi standing almost frozen, looking at the swaying form of the car. 

“What’s wrong?” 

Akechi doesn’t answer. 

Is he still hesitant about this whole dating thing? 

“...Are you nervous about being alone with me?” 

Akechi shakes his head. “N-No that’s…”

Akira watches as the brunette’s auburn eyes linger upward to view of the other cars and widen in what appears to be a mixture of shock and anxiety. 

_ Oh. _

“Akechi...Do you have a fear of heights…?” 

Akechi’s face scrunches in a somewhat bashful manner, probably embarrassed that Akira nailed it on the head with his guess to what his secret phobia is. 

“Hey, if you’re not comfortable with doing this, we don’t have to ride it—”

“No, I already agreed to doing this. So I’m doing it. Besides, I... feel fine.” The last part was stuttered out somewhat. Akira can tell he’s full of shit too. But he also knows better than to try to change the stubborn boy’s mind. Maybe at the very least, he can try to make this feel comfortable for him. 

Akira extends a hand out towards the detective, a gesture of trust and compassion. Akechi looks back and forth between his eyes and the hand waiting to be held and huffs, ignoring the offer and climbing into the car on his own. 

Akira rolls his eyes and takes his seat on the plush red cushions along the wall of the car. Akechi does the same but insists on sitting with a bit of space between them. 

After a few moments, the car finally takes off, beginning its motions of lifting them into the air. Akechi’s breath hitches when he feels the car begin to sway back and forth as it moves. 

“You okay?” 

“I said I’m _ fine.” _Akira looks down at both of his gloved hands gripping the seat for dear life on either side of his lap. 

They remain like this for a while as their car is lifted higher and higher. Akira admires the view from the roof window. 

“So, what exactly are we supposed to d-do on this thing anyway?” 

“Just sit and relax?” Akira snorts, “Enjoy the view, talk for a bit.” 

The raven takes notice of how Akechi has been staring at the floor nonstop this whole ride so far. The great ace detective, Akechi Goro...with a fear of heights. Who would’ve thought? 

If he didn’t want to do this, then he could’ve just simply said so, pride be damned. Yet here they are. Akira doesn’t want this time together to go to waste because of silence, however. 

_ Maybe if I try taking his mind off of how scary it is… _

“Oh hey, you never told me what your favorite color is—”

“Red.”

His answer was so quick and forced out, Akira almost didn’t register it. _ Yikes _ , he _ really _doesn’t like heights. 

“Oh, well...that’s cool. So’s mine!” 

The silence is unbearable and it’s proving surprisingly difficult to snap Akechi out of his anxious trance. Just then, a light bulb suddenly goes off in Akira’s head. 

_ I wonder… _

“I gotta say though…” the raven sighs, “I think yellow is more pleasing. Aesthetic wise.”

“What?” Akechi turns his head to glare at him. “Ugh, but that’s the worst one by far” 

_ Holy shit this is actually working. _

Akira presses on, “I don’t know. I think I’d have to argue with you on that. Yellow looks great on just about anything.” 

“Not on Owl—”

“Owl?” 

Akechi sputters and throws a hand to his own mouth, face contorting into immediate mortification as if he’d just uttered some sort of forbidden knowledge. 

“As in...Yellow Owl? From Phoenix Ranger Neo Featherman?” Akira snorted. 

Akechi’s snarl and blush alone proves enough of an answer for him. 

“No way. _ You’re _ into _ Featherman??” _

“So what if I am?! Don’t act as if your hobbies are any less embarrassing.”

“Hey, I don’t think it’s embarrassing at all. Actually, I think it’s cool.”

“Don’t lie—”

“No, seriously! I have a little sister who’s _ huge _into that stuff and she ended up dragging me into her addiction. I even own a few of the blue rays and that new arena game they just released.” 

Akechi brightens up a bit at that, clearly intrigued now. “You _ have _that…?” 

For the majority of the ride, Akira gradually brings the detective out of his guarded shell more and more with casual discussions about Featherman of all things. It’s probably the first time Akira has ever seen him with a genuine smile, albeit it’s just a small, occasional twitch of his lips, it’s still far more real than the usual pleasant boy grin he plastered on during interviews and discussions with adults. 

Akira simply smiles at him as he listens. Who would’ve thought the always perfect Detective Prince, Akechi Goro, is secretly a huge superhero fiction nerd? 

Everything is going smoothly. 

** _-CREAKK-_ **

Or at least it was until their conversation is interrupted but the sudden stopping of the ferris car.

Akechi’s frozen, anxious expression returns quickly. “What was that— why did we stop?” 

Immediately after his mind begins racing with questions, the intercom within the car comes on with the voice of a park announcer lady filling the tension. 

“_ Attention all guests, due to sudden hazardous weather conditions affecting our mechanical controls, the Odaiba Seaside park Ferris Wheel has been forced to a stop for your safety. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please remain seated in your cars as we work to resolve the issue in the next hour, thank you~” _

“HUH?!” Goro belts out frustratingly. “You mean we’re _ stuck _ up here?? For the next _ hour?!” _

Oh this is just...horrible timing. 

_ Okay, think. Akechi is under a lot of stress right now and clearly not happy about being stuck up here for this long. Say something. You were able to calm him down before, maybe you can do it again? Something to calm him down…To take his mind off of the situation… _

“Wanna make out?” 

The detectives silent panic turns into loud disgust and then an enraged growl as he grabs Akira and proceeds to attempt to push him out of the window. 

“I’m joking—I’M JOKING!!”

  
  


**DATE #2**

  
  


Okay, so the first date was a bust due to a little bit of bad luck. No big deal. Akira can definitely fix this with the second affair listed on his agenda. 

“You have _ got _to be joking.” 

Akechi stares in both dread and bewilderment at the inevitable disaster that this date too, will probably turn out to be. 

“What? Don’t tell me you have a problem with a little sight-seeing through Inokashira park.”

“In a dinky little boat_ .” _

“It is not _ dinky” _Akira argues and kicks the side of the small, wooden vessel with the tip of shoe, disregarding the way it nearly topples over into the water from that alone. “See? Completely safe!”

“I am not getting in that thing.”

“Sheesh, stop being such a baby. It’s just a dumb little boat ride through a park. It won’t even last that long.” Akira takes his seat onto the front of the rickety boat, ignoring the way it shifts and sways carelessly within the water from his weight. “Unless you don’t know how to swim or something.”

“I know how to _ swim _, idiot. I just don’t understand why you couldn’t at the least choose something less…” Akechi gestures to the wobbly, pathetic excuse for a rowboat, “...broken.”

“Just get in…” Akira groans. 

Akechi sighs and lowers his shoulders. He approaches the edge of the dock and carefully steps foot into the waiting boat, gasping a bit when he rocks back and forth from his movements. He quickly sits down, a little disgruntled. Akira just shoots him a smirk and picks up the ores to begin their mini voyage across the Inokashira pond. 

“See? It’s nice isn’t it?” Akira gestures to the surrounding spring scenery as his arms continue their circular motions with the ores. 

Akechi crosses his arms, “I suppose.” 

“I’m an amazing date planner, admit it.”

“Oh don’t get me wrong, I still think we look stupid right now.” 

“No we don’t! This place is supposed to be a hotspot for young couples! Or at least that’s what I read.” The last part was muttered bashfully. 

“And where exactly did you read that?” 

“‘Things to do in Tokyo’...”

“Oh great, so the fate of my love life rests in the hands of a tourist magazine. Perfect.”

The two proceed on with idle chit-chat about their surroundings, classwork, anything that comes to mind really. This isn’t too bad, Akira thinks. Other than Akechi’s almost-pretentious ramblings about how awful season four of Phoenix Ranger Neo Featherman was due to lack of character development among many other things that Akira honestly had lost track of in the midst of his groaning, it’s pretty relaxing. 

Although it is actually nice being able to see the brunette relax for once in his life and ramble on to him about random things. The warm sunlight reflecting brightly off of his well kempt honey-brown locks that blows ever so gently in the April breeze. He looks… mesmerizing, almost. Soft. Dare he even say, _ beautiful. _He can’t help but find himself staring now. 

He must have been watching for a bit longer than he thought, however, because right then the detective turns to him in notice. Auburn eyes gazing gently back into his own, his blush colored lips slightly parted in curiosity. Akira feels his breath hitch. His chest feels strangely warm, and he finds himself not even needing to look downward to tell that it’s glowing faintly. Akechi’s too. 

The moment is ruined when Akechi’s face scrunches into puzzlement. 

“What is…?”

He blinks and looks down at his feet to find his shoes soaked as well as his lower pant legs. Submerging deeper into the increasing puddle of water running along the floor of the boat. 

Their eyes simultaneously mingle to the small crack apparently etched into the bottom of the boat. 

“Oh that’s not good…”

“What the hell!? Why is there a _ crack!?” _Akechi stammers. “I knew this thing was just an unstable piece of junk!” 

“Well What was I supposed to do? All of the others were taken!”

“Well don’t just sit there, moron— Cover it with something and take us back to shore!!”

The raven lunges forward in attempt to cover the large crack with his bare hands, but to no avail as it isn’t enough. Akechi quickly joins him in trying to stop the water from breaking through with his coat, but the fissure is steadily increasing due to the pressure. Nothing is working. 

It is at this moment when Akira’s single, untimely brain cell kicks in as he desperately wracks that blob of gray matter in his skull for answers. Eventually bringing him to one very stupid and arguably cartoonish, solution. 

He removes his hands and looks down at the stretching crevice, lifting a single leg and bringing it down upon the leaking area. A little too much force though as all that did was serve to make the crack even bigger. 

Akechi looks at him as if he’d just done the stupidest thing imaginable. “_ Why did you KICK it??” _

“I was trying to cover it with my foot—!!”

“Well that didn’t work at too well, now did it!?” Akechi raises his voice, gesturing to the literally gallons of water now seeping in at an impossible to combat pace. 

Akira puts a finger to his chin in thought, “You know, now that I think about it, maybe I should’ve spent that extra five-hundred yen to get one of the newer boats…”

Akechi seethes through his teeth, “I thought you said there were no other boats.” 

“I mean there _ were _… I just didn’t… bring enough money.”

“You mean to tell me we’re in this situation because you decided to be _ cheap?” _

“It’s not _ that _bad—”

“THE BOAT IS SINKING, YOU IDIOT.”

The two boys continue with their belated, back and forth arguing with the eyes of various couples staring at them in awe as their fractured vessel quickly fills with water, submerging itself into the pond, and taking the disaster pair with it. 

  
  
  


**Date #3**

  
  
  


“Okay, okay. I know the last two didn’t exactly… go so smoothly. But I really think you’ll like this one!”

“As long as it doesn’t involve any sort of body of water… I’m fine with it.” 

Their walk from the nearby bus stop brings them to the front of a rather large and well sculpted building labeled as ‘_ Ueno.’ _

“An art museum?” Akechi looks at him with wonder. “I’m surprised. We’re actually going somewhere classy for a change. Did our little ruination last time due to your tight grip on your wallet teach you a lesson?” 

“Oh _ ha ha” _Akira bites back facetiously. “Actually, my friend Yusuke gifted us the tickets. He’s submitted a good bit of art to this place during gallery shows so the owner gives him a major discount.” 

“Well, I’m not complaining. It’s definitely a far cry from the other two dates.” 

“Not a fan of the outdoors?”

“I’m not a fan of your _ frugality _.” 

The two enter through the decorative museum doors and make their way to the service counters where Akira presents the admission tickets. Their slips are stamped for approval and with that, they begin their self tour of the Ueno Art Museum. 

The building is large and spacious. Consisting of two different floors, a lower level and an upper level. Both decorated and lined with countless numbers of paintings and pieces along the walls and center sections. Akira watches as Akechi scans each one, admiring various aspects of each piece and looking as if he’d become enchanted every time he came across a different one. 

“The brush strokes in this one… incredible.” 

Akira folds his arms behind his back and impishly tilts his head in front of the other boy. “You seem to know a lot about this, Akechi.” 

“Well of course. It’s only natural for someone who versus themselves within this field to recognize a thing or two” says Akechi, still staring intently at one of the oil paintings. Akira looks at him and blinks.

“_ You _ paint?” He says, pleasantly surprised. “I didn’t know you could do art stuff.” 

Akechi’s eyes tear away from the painting and frowns sheepishly. “Oh. Uh, well, sort of…” 

“Sort of?”

“Well it’s… it’s not anything as good as what’s in here, that’s for sure. And probably not seen as very ethical either.” The last part was mumbled just under his breath and Akira only barely caught it before igniting his curiosity even further. 

“Tell me! I’m curious now!” 

The detective stares at the ground for a moment before sucking it up and reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone. He opens up the photo app and slides his fingers to a certain album and holds it to Akira discreetly. The raven carefully takes it and flips through each image, eyes gradually growing in wonder at what he finds. 

It’s _ graffiti _. 

Apparently Akechi has worked on graffiti pieces before. All of which are… extremely _ good. _

“These are amazing” Akira mutters in wonder. 

He catches Akechi out of the corner of his eye quietly exhale in surprise as his eyes widen at the compliment. 

Akira looks at him, “Seriously, you really have a knack for this sort of thing, huh?” 

Akechi quietly accepts his phone back. “A little ironic though, considering my occupation. Such a thing would probably be looked down upon by the others in law enforcement as something childish.”

“Well screw them. Your murals are beautiful.” 

Akechi’s breath catches in his throat and he looks away while tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, a light blush adorning his cheeks. “Thanks..” he says softly. Akira notices the reappearance of the same slight red glow from his chest as before, this time a little bit brighter. 

He feels his own do the same. 

The two boys move on from the oil paintings and make their way over to the section of impressionism pieces where more unique, expensive critically acclaimed works lined the walls intricately. 

Akira takes a sip of his to-go latte as they admire each one. 

“Where the hell did you get _ that?” _

“Hm? You mean this?” He gestures to his plastic franchise cup with his name scribbled on the side. “I’ve had this with me the whole time. I got bored waiting for you to show up so I snagged me something from the Starbucks down the block.” 

“How in the world have the security guards not noticed you yet?” 

Akira tilts his head, “Why? Is there something wrong with me satisfying my caffeine addiction?” 

Akechi shakes his head with a somewhat worried look on his face. “I don’t think you’re supposed to have that in here…” 

“Oh come on,” Akira says as he nonchalantly waves his flimsy cup around, “what’s the big deal—” 

He hears a sudden _ pop _ noise followed by the sound of a small splash from behind him. Akechi’s expression morphs into one of horror as a he brings a gloved hand up to his mouth in an obvious reaction of shock. 

Slowly, Akira turns his head to find whatever it is Akechi is staring at. His heart nearly drops through the floor when he sees his coffee had apparently spilled all over one of the paintings. It’s some sort of modernized portrait. Intricate designs, and the like. Now complete with a mixture of foam and dark liquid dripping down the canvas and onto the tile floor below. 

“...Hey, Akechi?” 

The brunette doesn’t take his eyes away from the wall for a second. 

“How much...do you think this painting is worth?”

The detective’s hand lowers from his lips while his eyes remain wide and glued to the now very-much ruined piece. “The cheapest work in this entire building is worth over six-million yen…” 

“We should leave.” 

“That might be best.” 

  
  
  


**Date #4**

  
  
  


“Where are we going _ now, _Kurusu..?” Akechi sighs, a mixture of slight nervousness of what’s to come and pure exhaustion heavy in his tone.

“Well, since everything else was sort of a bust—”

“_ Sort of?” _

“Don’t rub it in. Since all of my other ideas so far haven’t been going too hot, I figured we should just try something a little more simple—”

They finally come to a prominent stop in front of their destination. Akira turns Akechi towards to entrance of the building and gestures to the big sign reading _ Ginza _above with a smile. “Dinner!” 

“Sushi..?” Akechi’s eyes light up. Akira, of course, takes notice of his reaction. 

“I take it I’ve caught your attention?”

The detective looks down and smiles slightly. “How coincidental of a choice. Sushi just so happens to be my favorite.”

Akira grins cheekily, “So I was right to assume you had more of an expensive taste.”

“You would be correct” Akechi breaths a laugh. “Perhaps this will be the turning point in our progress.”

The raven extends an arm to the smiling brunette. Akechi simply rolls his eyes and links his own with his as he’s escorted inside. 

The inside of the restaurant is as expected. Intricate yet traditional Japanese decor lined along the walls of the interior waiting area. The actual restaurant section lying in wait behind the shōjis is different. Dark rouge carpets line the floors surrounding the bar area, all of it illuminated beneath the dimly lit golden lanterns suspended low from the tiled ceiling. Fancy. Good thing Akira remembered to actually bring money with him this time. 

The two boys are escorted to the bar area by a waitress and seated upon the solid black cushioned chairs, menus in hand. Akira insists that he let Akechi choose since he’s the ‘goroumet’ here, or so he teases. The detective promptly smacks him with the laminated menu. 

The brunette does the honors of placing the orders as promised by the raven. The serendipitous pair exchange conversation as they wait. Once again, discussing just about anything that pops into their minds with a lively orchestra of noises echoing around the room in the forms of people chit-chatting, laughter, plates and glasses clinking, and soft oriental music. Much to his surprise, Akira has been finding their simple chats to be relaxing. Talking with Akechi is fairly easy once you get past his know-it-all front and slight intimidation factor. It’s strange though. Despite their past disgruntlement and occasional bickering over the little things, Akira finds himself to gradually grow more and more...comfortable around him. 

After a rather lengthy wait due to the influx of weekend customers, their platters finally arrive. Hinoki boards decorated from every side and corner with colorful arrangements of sushi. Akira hardly ever splurges like this, what with a college budget and what not. But obviously it was a special occasion. He’d be willing to make an exception for the detective. 

Although the more the raven glances over each piece, the more he can hear his wallet quietly weeping from its place in his back pocket. 

“Ohyou, Akami, Tuna maki, Unagi, kampachi… Geez just take my whole months worth of paychecks why don’t you?” 

Akechi simply smiles, separating his chopsticks with a noticeable amount of eagerness. “You’re the one who said I could, and I quote, ‘_ pick anything and as much of anything as my heart desires.’” _

“I’m starting to regret my own gentlemanliness to be honest” Akira mutters. His sulking doesn’t last for long though as Akechi ignores his groaning and enthusiastically reaches down to seize his individual pieces of carefully laid out sushi. Akira watches him bring a piece of mackerel to his lips and delicately bites into the treat, his bright auburn eyes lighting up immediately and then shutting in bliss as he shudders and sighs in some sort of euphoric pleasure. He looks like he’s about to damn drool. 

He looks..._ cute. _

Akira thinks he looks cute. 

The brunette reaches for yet another piece and repeats the same action, this time bringing a hand to his cheek in a display of wonder at how amazing it tastes probably. Akira can hear him quietly giggle to himself while he continues with his self-indulgent dinner. 

_ Screw cute he’s fucking adorable. _

Suddenly his chest feels tight. And warm. He doesn’t even have to look down to see it’s glowing again just like before. It sure has been doing a lot of that lately. 

It must have been brighter than he thought because Akechi soon breaks out of his little food trance and takes notice of it. Akira musters a smile anyway, “Enjoying yourself?” 

Akechi looks back and forth between Akira’s wonder-filled yet curious eyes and the pink hue illuminating through his shirt and looks away, laughing awkwardly. “Ah… Sorry. It’s just that I...rarely get to indulge in delicacies like this. At least not something this luxurious.”

That’s surprising, actually. 

“Really? Aren’t you like a...celebrity or something? Sorry if this is rude, but I sort of just assumed that you...had money?” 

“Ugh.” Akechi exasperates as he lowers his chopsticks. “_ Please _ don’t call me that.”

“Huh?” 

“I just simply prefer not to be labeled as such really.” 

“Is that not what you are though?” He frowns and tilts his head in confusion. “I’m sorry, I’m confused..?” 

Akechi sighs, grabbing another sushi piece to shove in his mouth and swallowing before even bothering to explain. “I suppose in technical terms I _ am _ , but…I find that I have gotten to a point where I am tired of hearing it. People always swarm over me for it. Men and women alike throwing themselves against my face in some hideous attempt to see if I am their soulmate or something. Even though I know for a fact it’s not actually _ me _they want. At this point it feels almost degrading in a way.”

Akechi’s face grows...solemn somewhat. His smile fades. 

“And as for the financial concern,” he continues, “I’m afraid to tell you that I am still just of an average detective salary. Actually, my pay is _ below _the average wage since technically I have not finished training yet nor even my degree.”

Akira suddenly finds himself feeling guilty for all the times he believed the detective was just showing off. All this time Akira thought he was just some rich and popular _ snob _, but turns out it’s something far different than that. 

“Sorry to disappoint you” the detective laughs. 

“W-What!? N-No, no, no— That’s not...No, that doesn’t matter to me. At all. I care way more about you than any money haha.” 

Akira laughs of course. Although once he glances over to a silently stunned Akechi looking at him wide eyed, lips slightly parted, and a pink hue couple both of his cheeks to match the one on his chest, his laughter dissipates. And the realization of what he had just said hits him like a train. 

He really just said that. 

And what’s more, he meant it. 

The silence though, strangely enough, doesn’t feel any bit of awkward. Not like the last few times. Not like how it normally does when Akira says something heartfelt to anybody else. This time it felt..._ comfortable _. Real. As if an invisible warmth spread between their bodies like a camp fire to a surrounding party. It isn’t unwelcomed. 

But it _ is _embarrassing. 

Akechi just smiles at him. A much more real, _ genuine _twinkle than before. Better than the one from the Ferris wheel and especially better than the one from TV. He feels like his heart is about to explode out of chest. 

Is this what it feels like? Is this that ‘strange pull’ feeling that he’s heard from so many people before now? 

Does this really mean that they’re…

Akira blinks. Then he exhales. He didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath. There’s butterflies in his stomach now. 

He averts the brunettes soft eyes and scans over his own wooden platter of sushi. He spots a familiar set of pink and opaque colors to him that catches his eyes. “Oh! I didn’t even realize you ordered fatty tuna too.” 

“Sorry, I sort of just ordered whatever I thought looked appealing. It has been quite a while since I’ve been to any kind of sushi place I mean” the detective laughs. 

“Don’t apologize! These things are actually my personal favorites.” Akira glees as he finally picks up his own chopsticks and reaches down to collect a generous dab of wasabi on the piece before dipping it in the minuscule bowl of soy sauce and shoving it in his mouth entirely. _ Damn. _This place really knows their shit. No wonder Akechi was practically having a foodgasm just a moment ago. 

He reaches for another piece and repeats the same process, except this time holding it up to his soulmates awaiting lips. “Here—” 

“Seriously? We’re one of _ those _couples now?” 

“Shut up, I’m trying to be cute” Akira laughs. 

Akechi releases a suppressed giggle and rolls his eyes. He plays along with his bullshit anyway though and lurches forward to take the combination of rice and tuna into his mouth. His jaw moves in a weirdly elegant manner while he chews. Why is he so _ cute. _Akira has to resist clutching his chest in all honesty. He can’t pull his eyes away from him. 

Oddly though, Akechi's chewing begins to slow and his movements become more grinding, as if he’s unsure about what is currently in his mouth. His smile fades and his brows furrow in confusion. Akira doesn’t know how yet but he can tell he somehow just fucked up immensely once again. 

“AGH—”

The detectives eyes shoot open like a wild animal and he squeaks and yelps in some sort of pain. His chest heaves and he starts to cough in quite audible, hoarse choking noises as if something is trying to desperately crawl out of his lungs and strangle him. Akira thinks he’s choking at first and is more than ready to try his hand at a Heimlich maneuver until Akechi turns away from him completely to grasp for his glass of water and force it to his lips and down his throat like he’d just crawled out from a desert. 

“H-Hey— Are you okay!?” Akechi ignores him downs the whole damn glass in seconds before lunging across the bar counter for Akira’s to do the same. 

Gone with two drinks and yet he’s still panicking. He looks like he’s about to cry. He covers a hand over his drooling mouth and skids out of his chair to the nearby restroom without a word while people at the bar watch with curious and equally bewildered eyes. 

Akira is confused and horrendously worried until he glances down at the chopsticks to see a green color stuck to the tips of them—

_ Ohh. _

Akira leaves the counter and follows him into the bathroom. When he opens the door he finds quite a sight for eyes. Akechi is leaned over the polished marble counter space of the sink with his head positioned underneath the faucet, his mouth wide open and tongue sticking out in a desperate attempt to wash the overwhelming spice of the wasabi away from his taste buds. 

“I take it you’re not a fan of spicy food…” Akira mutters while approaching the poor man leaned over the sink. 

It takes a few minutes but the detective is finally able to bring himself down to a stable level and the coughing and intense burning sensation scorching the inside of his throat stops. Akira helps clean him up with some water and paper towels. After some moments, the other man is finally able to talk again. 

“Kurusu, I don’t…think I can do this anymore” he breathes. 

“What do you mean?”

“I mean _ this” _Akechi sits up and gestures between the two of them. “I don’t think I’m...cut out for anything like this. Neither of us are.”

Akira frowns. “So you just want to give up?”

“Just tell me, why is it that for every date we have gone on, _ something, _whether it be me or you or some unpredictable mishap, manages to go horribly wrong? What if us being...you know...was a mistake or something…?” 

Akira is actually taken aback. Akechi is seriously going to question whether or not they’re even soulmates? Even after everything they’ve done together up until now? 

“Hey, hold on— that’s impossible isn’t it? I mean we clearly missed in that hallway that day. We wouldn’t have been able to do that if we weren’t supposed to be together, right? I mean isn’t this something fate itself decides—”

“Well then maybe damn fate was _ wrong _!!” Akechi snaps. 

“Wrong…?” 

The words reverberate through Akira’s head. The idea of them being fated partners is wrong...But that’s impossible isn’t it? It’s never been wrong before, the connection Kiss has never been a mistake before. Or at least he’s never heard of it in such a way. 

“...I need to go.”

“Akechi—”

“I’m sorry, Kurusu.”

Before Akira even has a chance to stop him or so much as protest to his notion, Akechi brushes past him and darts out of the restroom door. He hears the small _ chime _of the bells of the entrance door ring in the distance between the opening and closing swings of the toiletries door, signaling that he really has left. 

The only thing Akira can register through the sudden dusting of tears pricking at his eyes is the iridescent hue of blue irradiating from where his heart should be.   



	4. Could This Really Be...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looks like our good lad Goro is still struggling with coming to terms with this whole soulmate thing. 
> 
> Perhaps a little friendly advice from an unexpected peer can help him find what he’s looking for... 
> 
> Or rather, what he’s been needing all along.

  
Goro doesn't come to class again after that. 

Lovely. He’s right back to where he started before they started this whole dating shenanigan. To the time when this horrid ordeal all began. How much the detective had loathed this situation. In the beginning of it all, he was terrified. Scared and confused out of his rightful mind at the prospect of having a soulmate, let alone someone he’d previously believed to have hated him. A soulmate who would never dare accept him or even bother with his existence, because why would he. 

But then something changed, or so he believes at least. The strange, unexplainable feelings that began to coarse throughout the brunette’s very core the more he spent time with the other man. The warmth that spread within his body in delicate patterns. Extending, descending, and climbing up from his face, his thighs, his stomach filled with butterflies of virtue, all meeting together in his chest to produce a vibrantly colored glow, albeit a faint one, that apparently matched that of the other man.

And for once, for the first time in  _ years,  _ Goro had thought that maybe, just  _ maybe _ , he wasn’t as cursed as he had believed after all. That maybe there was hope for him. That maybe there  _ was  _ some kind of sensory of eternal love and affection awaiting him. That maybe he didn’t have to be so alone as he had originally been lead to believe throughout his young life. 

But apparently he was wrong. 

Everything... _ everything  _ they tried,  _ always  _ found some way to go horribly and inexplicably wrong. At first, Goro chalked it up to just mere accidents, a little dust of bad luck here and there. But the more it progressed, the more his hope returned to its previously shattered state as it had been for the twenty-two years he’d been on this earth. There is nothing waiting for him. There is no ‘big plan’ the universe has in store for him. There is no love or longing. Just a cold, empty dorm room with piles of unfinished Japanese Literature assignments scattered around his wobbly, pine-wood desk. 

Life had always been unnecessarily cruel and unfair to him. Why would it stop now? Easy. It wouldn’t. 

Or at least that is, until he heard an obnoxiously repetitive beat of knocks against his dorm room door. To which he opens it only to find an even more obnoxious grin awaiting him on the other side. Goro stares at his hideously yellow tank top with the words  _ On Your Mark !  _ needled into it. 

“Yo—”

** _SLAM_ **

He doesn’t even grace the young man with an answer before shutting the door in his face. He is definitely not in the mood for this of all things right now. Definitely not. 

Apparently that isn’t stopping the asshole though as Goro hears another barrage of knocks beating against his door. This time, sounding much more persistent than before. How annoying. 

_ Sigh.  _

Goro approaches the door once more to turn the knob and pull, opening up to find the view of the toothy grin now replaced with something of a grimacing glare. Goro looks at him, unimpressed. “Can I help you?”

“Well ya can  _ start  _ by not slammin’ doors in my face!!”

“I am afraid I will have to decline your request on that. Anything else?”

The weird blonde man before him looks like he’s about to start fuming practically, his cheeks quivering with a cartoonish sense of rage. Goro would be lying if he said that watching this wasn’t somewhat entertaining. However, the man ceases his shivers of annoyance, takes a deep breath, and sighs. His features calm down quite a bit. Ah, impressive. So he’s house trained. 

“Listen. I ain’t here to fight ya. I just wanna talk—”

“This is about Kurusu, isn’t it?” He sighs, unsurprised and already knowing the answer. 

“No! I just like...noticed you were having a rough time ‘n stuff and I thought maybe we could go out and blow some steam. Just us two guys!” 

The brunette squints. “The last time one of Kurusu’s friends offered to take me out to ‘blow off some steam’ I ended up being locked with him in a back alley cafè against my will.” 

The blonde scratches his head. No wonder Kurusu hangs out with him so often. He’s incredibly easy to read. Goro can tell just by looking at his wandering eyes unsubtly darting every which way that he’s struggling to find his words. He wonders if having him come here was that Takamaki girl’s idea. 

“Well, so what?? So you’d rather stay cooped up in your damn room than actually do somethin’ with yourself?” Goro guesses his mental battle inside of his head must have come to an end because his expression and tone decides to settle for a determined approach. 

“I am not cooped up. And I have piles of assignments to attend to. Now leave.” He’s about to shut the door abruptly again but he’s stopped by the sudden intervention of a sneakered foot wedged between it and the frame. 

“Don’t just blow me off, man. I ain’t goin’ anywhere until you get out of this room. Come to the gym with me!”

“Why the gym?” Goro puzzles. 

“Why not?? It’s a good place to let out all your frustrations ‘n shit and I know ya got lots of that. Also, hell, you look like the kind of guy who works out, come on it’ll be fun!” 

Goro feels bewildered and admittedly slightly creeped out. “Why would you assume that—”

“God, just  _ come on.”  _ The other man continues to push, wincing slightly at the consistent pressure Goro is keeping on his wedged foot out of spite. 

This asshole really is not going to quit until he says yes, is he? Goro sighs. He opens the door a tad more. “Fine. Wait here. I’ll go get my things.” 

The blonde breathes a slight breath of relief at the release of pressure against his poor foot and beams a smile. “Great!” Oh— and by the way, my name is Sakamoto. Call me Ryuji though!”

“Okay. Sakamoto it is then.” Goro says flatly, turning to dig for his work out clothes while the blonde lets out a offender choke at the door at his bluntness. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Goro is dressed head-to-toe in his regular work out attire. Sweatpants, red tank top, shoulder-length hair tied back into its usual, routinely ponytail, and a gym bag containing his necessary powders and essentials slung over his shoulder. 

It had actually been a good while since he’d had anytime to go to the gym or work his body physically in general. What with all of the timely classwork, detective business, and then Kurusu’s oddball arrangement of dates that he would much rather forget about, he’s been lacking. So, Sakamoto is a bit of a loud brute. He’s friendly at least, and offering to let him use his gym membership. Maybe this would be good for him. 

Sakamoto escorts the two of them down several Shibuya walkways until turning down a particular alley. After avoiding numerous street vendors and shady conmen with bootleg accessories and jewelry laid out on blankets, (and probably selling without a permit to which Goro finds himself  _ very  _ tempting to flash a badge at them out of spite for wasting his time) they finally arrive in front of their destination. 

“Protein lovers? I must admit, I have never heard of this place. Or even knew that it was here. For most of my workouts I just used the campus provided one.” 

Sakamoto laughs while swiping his key card and pushing the door open. “Yeahh, I tried the Uni’s gym. Not a whole lotta variety in my opinion. You’ll prolly love this place then!” 

The two make their way inside and over to the locker room area where they are given a temporary combination lock by the check-in desk. After dumping their stuff off in their chosen locker and filling up on whatever proteins supplements they decided to bring, they ventured out onto the floor of the main area to begin. 

Unpainted gray concrete walls surrounded the room, as well as the floors save for some matted sections laid out for stretch. stretching. With some mirrors lined up here and there. It’s a fairly small gym. But full of variety in equipment and machines to work with, as Sakamoto promised. Well damn the puny campus gym then, Goro thinks to himself. Not to mention the fact that he’s never had a ‘work out buddy’ before. He admittedly finds himself a bit excited now. Yeah. Maybe this will definitely be good for him. 

The athletic blonde guides him over to one of the barbel racks in particular and looks at him eagerly, his rather muscular arms stretching up and over his head at the same time. “Soo, whaddya wanna start with? Some curls, extensions, back rows….”

Goro’s mouth opens in anticipation to respond, but then he freezes. His jaw hanging low and his brows quickly furrowing in immediate frustration. His glare is angled towards a particularly familiar figure lurching on the other side of the gym, over by the treadmills. Goro squints at the silhouette, anxiety building up in the pit of his stomach already. Sakamoto must have taken notice to his buddy’s sudden change in demeanor. 

“Hey? Dude, you okay?”

Black curls, unkempt and messy…

“Uhh…”

Same height, similar physical stature as well…

“Akechiiii..” Sakamoto waves a hand in front of his face.

Then the figure turns completely. And that’s when Goro has a clear view of the obnoxious resting grin and thick, round glasses hanging from his face. It’s him. Why is he here?? God damn it. 

“I should have known. You set me up didn’t you!?” The detective shoots an accusing glare at the blonde. 

“Huh!? What are you talking about??”

“Don’t play dumb, Kurusu is  _ right there.”  _ Goro grits his teeth in annoyance. Could the whole fucking world quit trying to force the two of them to talk for one measly second. “You and that Takamaki girl and everybody else in this god forsaken city it feels like just cannot let me have a moment's peace away from all of this soulmate business can you?” 

Sakamoto holds up his hands in an apologetic defense. “Dude, Akira stops by this place like, all the time. Or whenever he gets the chance at least. Him bein’ here is seriously just coincidence!!”

Goro looks at him quizzically. He doesn’t believe him. 

“And besides, it ain’t like I’m going out of my way to literally lock the door behind you and run. I just took you to some public gym. If ya really don’t wanna be here, then the door’s right there” Sakotomot gestures to the entrance across the way. “I ain’t stopping you, man.” 

The detective looks at him. He supposes he’s right. He doesn’t feel literally trapped like last time. He has full ability to exit this situation. He’s wary, but it’s a comforting thought at the very least. 

Goro stares at him for a moment. Studying his expression. Sakamoto was, again, very easy to read. The lack of a wry look glinting within his brown eyes told the detective that he is indeed telling the truth. 

He sighs. “I prefer to start off with biceps.”

  
  
  
  


They carry on with their workout for the next hour and a half. Sakamoto insisting on guiding Goro through each of the various machines and running him through his personal routine for certain sections of the body. It’s fun, of course, admittedly. But Goro can’t seem to get himself to exactly focus on his tasks at hand. 

He keeps catching himself glancing over at Kurusu. 

And he doesn’t even know why. He simply keeps looking over at him every now and then. Sometimes his glances turn into stares, watching the other boy go to work by his lonesome. His attention wavers to him so prolongedly that even Sakamoto notices him zoning out from their conversation. Which leaves Goro to feel embarrassed at himself. 

“So for this one you’re gonna wanna..”

The detective finds himself drowning out the blondes words once again as he steals a view of the dark haired boy from across the way. His face is stern as he watches him. He’s surprised Kurusu hasn’t noticed him yet. 

The boy is stationed over by the treadmills and digging through the duffel bag he’d brought with him, pulling out a variety of items including protein drinks, lotions, wash cloths, and something rather fuzzy..? Goro squints for a better look and then widens his eyes when he sees the familiar white feet. 

“I dunno, I don’t really like premier that much though, it’s kinda weak compared to the other brands—”

“He brings his  _ cat  _ to the gym with him…?” 

Sakamoto blinks, and then glances over to view whatever his new buddy is staring at. 

Goro watches with wonder as the raven haired boy plucks his small cat from the bag and trudges him over to the treadmill along with a leash. Once tied up loosely to one of the handles, the black and white feline watches patiently as his master slowly turns up the speed dial. The creature follows along and begins moving his legs at a speed walking sort of pace as Kurusu steps onto the treadmill next to him to begin his own jogging session. 

Goro just now realized that his mouth has been gaping slightly in shock. 

“Oh yeah” Sakamoto cuts into his thoughts. “Yeah he brings his stupid cat with him to the gym for some reason. I guess it’s ‘cause there’s not a whole lotta ways to get him exercise around campus. That’s why I don’t work out with Akira much anymore though, every time I try I end up getting scratched whenever I get too close to him— Hey, you okay!?”

Goro turns to look at the blond when he realizes he’s addressing him. It also takes Goro a second to register the fact that his chest is glowing slightly. He looks down at the color and scowls. 

“Oh, fuck  _ off.” _

“Sorry??”

“Not  _ you _ —! Ugh. Let’s just keep going okay?” 

He hears Sakamoto grumble something under his breath before guiding him over to the bench press. “Mind spotting for me?”

“Sure, that’s fine.” 

Goro makes his way over behind the press to ready himself as Sakamoto lays down upon the pleather padded center and grips the iron bars with both hands. “I’m gonna go for thirty reps okay?” Goro nods and places his hands over the bar in concentration as Sakamoto begins. Up and down his arms move and muscles tighten as Goro watches carefully with both hands lightly touching the hard, steel weight between the blonde’s occupied hands. 

However, he finds his eyes wandering aimlessly once more over to the section across the gym where Kurusu had apparently moved on from the treadmills to the pull-up bars a little ways over. Goro watches as the dark haired boy grips the iron bars and lifts himself up and down with complete ease. Needless to say, Kurusu is much more athletic than he initially imagined. Goro had always taken him for one of those lazy, stay-at-home types. Now he finds himself more intrigued in the raven’s workout than he has any right to be. Especially with the small black and white cat sat carefully upon a wooden stool next to the other boy, it’s little head nodding up and down as it watches it’s master. It’s not the only one watching right now. 

“Nngh… Hey, Akechi? You keepin’ watch up there, man?” 

Goro doesn’t respond and only continues to observe the man across the gym floor, admittedly finding himself mesmerized by how good he looks while soaked in sweat like this. Goro swears he can watch this all day. 

And then his routine ends. Kurusu releases his grip on the tall iron bars and breathes a breath of relief, turning away from the pull-up stand. And Goro is immediately greeted by a sight he swears he could only look at in some exotic male model magazine or his wildest wet dreams. 

Kurusu threw his neck back to face the ceiling, hands reaching up to wipe the profuse amount of sweat dripping gorgeously from his forehead and down his cheeks and lashes, his dark curls damp with wetness and sticking to his forehead. The sweat soaked into every crevice of his polyester shirt, causing it to cling to his skin beautifully and even outline the definitions of his chest and stomach. Arms that are far more muscular and toned than they have any right to be reach down to pull at the hem of his shirt and lift up, exposing to the world an even more surprising display of toned muscles and abs, all glistening and dripping with more sweat. It all felt like slow motion. Kurusu finishes peeling the damp shirt off of his body and tosses it nonchalantly towards his bag. Still breathing ever so steadily, chest moving up and down carefully, pectorals defined even more by the natural action. 

What the fuck. 

Just what the fuck. 

“H-Hey, dude— ACK, a little help please??” 

Goro continues to ignore Sakamoto’s pleas even further. He can’t pay attention to anything around him at the moment. Not with this literal image of a man ripped straight out of a PlayGirl catalog staring him in the face. The detective’s mouth had fallen agape long ago, now with awkward waterfalls of drool dripping from it and to the face of the poor soul below him. 

“What the FUCK—E-EW!? STOP THAT!” 

Droplets of drool continue to drearily drip onto the poor blonde’s face before finally, he musters enough strength to lift the bar, set it into its placeholder by himself, and shoot up and off of the bench to address the brunette properly with an indignant glare. 

“God—! I can’t  _ take  _ this shit anymore!!” The detective is taken aback by the outburst. “Look, man, this is fucking  _ stupid.  _ You’ve been avoidin’ Akira for the whole week because of what?? A few bad dates!?”

Sakamoto’s yelling is incessant. Goro just stands admittedly shocked. He’s not sure if he should find this offensive or not. 

“Look, I don’t know that much about you and I don’t know how you felt about the guy before but obviously somethin’s changed, so just...man the hell up and go  _ talk  _ to the damn guy already!! Because  _ clearly  _ you’ve grown to like the asshole— Or at least some  _ parts  _ of him!!” 

Goro straightens himself, brows furrowed. “Do not sit there and lecture me about my personal life. What gives you the right to assume that I’ve grown ‘fond’ of or to ‘like’ him in any sort of way—”

“Well obviously ya do because my  _ FACE  _ full of  _ YOUR DROOL  _ proves otherwise!!” 

Goro is about to say something in objection but shuts his mouth and purses his lips together, face turning red and bashful at the realization that Sakamoto is very much correct. 

Just then, another man, likely a regular gym goer, walks past the two and offers a small towel to the blonde. “Here, man you must have worked up quite the sweat. Your face is  _ soaked _ haha.” 

Sakamoto glares at the brunette a final time before throwing down the towel with a growl and storming off. “This is  _ BULLSHIT.  _ I  _ knew  _ I shouldn’t’ve listened to Ann...effing  _ gross!”  _ Goro hears the other man muffle angrily as he marches out of the gym in a fit of annoyance. 

Well that was…quite humiliating. 

Goro looks across the gym back to the raven haired boy taking a water break while mingling with his cat. He presses his lips in thought. Perhaps Sakamoto is right though. These reactions to the man are anything but normal. Well, surely with a body like  _ that  _ Kurusu has had people fawn over him before, but this isn’t the only time this glow has appeared on Goro’s chest. It’s supposed to mean something, isn’t it? This feeling. Whatever it is. Maybe this is a good feeling. Maybe this is okay. Maybe he  _ does  _ need to just deal with it. 

Maybe he should just listen to his damn body for once. 

Goro sighs, “Damn it.” 

Suck it up. 

Just suck it up and do it. 

The detective steels himself and approaches the man across the other side of the gym. Kurusu is still occupied with playing with his small feline until his eyes catch Goro’s figure shadowing over him. He turns his head and Goro watches as his gray eyes immediately widen, the man standing up with urgency and awkwardness stuck to his tongue as he attempts an addressal. 

“A-Akechi…Oh, I—You, uh…W-What are you doing here—”

His bumbling speech is halted by Goro raising a single finger to the raven’s lips. An auburn glare that he knows could kill in more ways than one shooting straight into his dark eyes. The detective’s words contradict such with his abnormally soft and gentle tone of speaking. “I want to apologize. I have been purposely avoiding you for the past week, as well as the week before we made the whole  _ dating agreement _ , and overall, neglecting this thing between us for far too long. Truthfully, in short, I have certain...insecurities. About myself and about my circumstances. However, that does not warrant me to treat you so unfairly. It isn’t fair to you and it certainly isn’t right for me to allow my habit of self deprecation to be the cause of holding back my own...feelings.”

He lowers his finger from the others lips slightly. Kurusu looks taken aback, but understanding in a sympathetic sort of way. “Akechi…” 

“So, I want to make things right. I want to try again. Preferably tomorrow night, if you are available of course.” 

His gray eyes light up at that one. Kurusu smiles softly. His lips pull into a brand new expression of a sort of gentle happiness with a touch of relief within his eyes. “I’m glad. I still have a few places we can try—”

“ _ AND...”  _ his finger presses itself against the other’s warm lips once again “...this time,  _ I’M  _ picking the date.” 

Kurusu smiles again. “That’s fair, I suppose.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  


“What are we doing in Kichijoji?” 

“I told you already. You’ll see when we get there. Be patient.” 

It’s cold, surprisingly. Chilly winds brush past their clothing-layered bodies despite it being late April. Akechi is holding his hand as he escorts him through the cramped streets of the small Tokyo sanction. Well, it’s more like he’s just pulling on the sleeve of his silver-colored pea coat. It’s much more intimate in terms of physical touch that the detective has ever willingly granted him though, so he appreciates it nonetheless and smiles. 

Kichijoji is an interesting city to say the least. Supposedly it’s a city where various cultures fuse in one way or another. The streets being lined with fashionable stores for younger people, old pubs, and traditional temples. He doesn’t recall visiting it much since he’s moved here from his small country town a few years back, though. Actually, Akira only vaguely remembers seeing these streets once or twice at the most. The only reason he’d ever visited being for some bar hopping with old buddies from high school. He wonders why Akechi would lead him  _ here  _ for a date of all places. 

“Here, this is the place” the brunette says, loosening his grip on his coat sleeves which Akira is pretty sure might be a bit stretched now thanks to all of the pulling. 

The raven glances upwards at the snazzy, bright neon sign hovering above. “ _ Penguin Sniper _ ?” He says curiously. 

The detective says nothing and pulls on his sleeve once again, his other hand pulling open the tinted glass door to lead them both inside. 

Akira’s nostrils are immediately hit with a mixture of smells. Booz, sugar, cologne, and the faint yet various wafts of incense smoke. Glancing around at the arrangement of pool tables and chairs, as well as the dart boards set up towards the back with a bar stationed right next to it, he figures out where he is and his surprise hits him. “A billiard?” 

Akechi lets go of his coat finally. “I come here quite often whenever I have free-time. It’s quiet compared to campus. I find it relaxing, not to mention I’m also a bit of a pool and dart junky, if you will. This place is pretty much my own little sanctuary in a way.”

“Would you be offended if I said I was honestly expecting you to take me to a crepe shop or something?” 

“No, because this place serves as a sweets cafè too for all of my necessary sugar fixation needs. Including crepes.”

“Of course it does.” 

Akechi ushers him over to the bar in the back, passing by the multiple empty tables to start the evening off by buying the two of them a drink. It’s not very busy in here, surprisingly. Most of the tables are unoccupied, save for a few to the side where others who look to be about their ages sit and talk quietly over glasses of whisky or rum. Not a very romantic atmosphere, but something about the way Akechi nonchalantly sticks a few yen coins into the metallic slots and picks up his pool stick as he takes a swig of his booz, as if this is an average routine for him makes Akira feel strangely good about being here. 

Probably because he’s never seen the detective look so carefree and comfortable before. It’s certainly a different image compared to what most people see on TV. The handsome, ever so polite pleasant boy who supposedly holds all the answers, shoots smiles for the camera, and pretends that his onslaught of fan girls doesn’t annoy the living daylights out of him. That same boy. Except this time he smiles at his own pace, drinks coffee grain whisky, and doesn’t mind the smell of smoke. It looks natural. 

It’s a good look for him. 

The sound of resin balls clacking together fills the quiet air as the detective arranges them carefully within the plastic triangle rack. 

Akira realizes that Akechi likely doesn’t show this side of him often. Not to very many individuals at least. Possibly even none. Yet for some reason, he apparently wanted  _ him  _ to see it. To see him in his favorite type of environment. A scene that he likely wouldn’t want anyone else to bear witness to, lest his reputation be brought down a notch or two by the general public who expects a clean, perfect, valedictorian type of young man. The realization makes his heart beat a little faster. 

“I’ll let you have the first move” Akechi declares casually while rubbing a small chalk cube on the tip of his stick. 

Akira awkwardly positions himself on the opposing side of the table before the white ball. He’s never played pool before actually. Well, he has once. However that was years ago when he was a kid and could barely even hold the pool stick without toppling over. His already lousy skills are pretty rusty and it definitely shows in his form when he leans over the green carpeted table, angles the tip of the stick between his even more awkwardly placed fingers, and strugglingly thrusts the stick forward to smack against the ball. Visions of colors in the form of rolling balls flies all over the table as more clacking sounds reverberate throughout the billiard. 

Akechi cocks an eyebrow at him as if he’d just done something offensive. 

Akira steps back and allows the brunette to quietly wander around the table. His dark red eyes are calculating as they gaze around the table, probably looking for the best possible shot. He must have made his decision because now he’s angled himself to hover over the table, stick between his fingers, form significantly better looking than whatever the hell Akira’s was. He thrusts the stick with far more power and grace than the raven had managed and the balls fly once again. Akira watches with amazement as multiple balls are launched easily into various holes in a show of mastery. His eyes glance up to catch Akechi smiling at him smugly. 

“Did you take me here as a date or as an excuse to show off how good you are at pool?”

Akechi laughs, “I take it you’re not very experienced in this sort of game, are you?”

“Oh, and I take it  _ you _ are?” 

“Well, I just made myself three points on my first shot, didn’t I? So I’d say I’m somewhat of an expertise.”

“Is this your way of telling me that you’re good at handling balls?” 

Akechi scoffingly laughs and smacks his butt with the pool stick. 

After what wasn’t even hardly ten minutes, the game ends. The score being a shameful 1-14. With of course, the one single point belonging to Akira who know finds himself pouting at his lack of victory or fair competition at all. Akechi’s playful laughter cuts through his mind though and he’s not sure whether that should make him feel better or make him more sore. “Aw come on, don’t feel so bad. I’ve played this far more often than you have anyway so,” he flips his brunette hair for mocking emphasis “a victory is only to be expected.” His I’m-better-than-you act is quickly ruined though when he starts clutching the stick and giggling quietly. 

Akira decides that it makes him feel better. 

“Okay, okay, let’s play something else that you might fare a little better in then.” The detective sets his pool stick back in the rack and reaches for his actual hand this time to pull him over to the arranged ‘sniper area.’ 

“Luck you, I  _ just  _ so happen to be the all time dart  _ master _ ” he says while positioning himself on the starting mat before the boards. “So don’t think your victory is in the bag like last time~”

“Oh, really?” Akechi smiles at the corner of his lips and tilts his head, gesturing to the board, “Well then, by all means.” 

The raven faces forward and focuses. Positioning his feet, then his arms as he raises his wrist and pulls back in an awkward stance ready to throw. He takes careful aim and then lunges forward along with his arm, sending the dart flying wonkily to land on the farthest corner of the outer black ring of the board. Almost missing the damn board entirely. He whips around to catch Akechi giggling at him again, this time a little less controlled that he has to cover a hand over his mouth to suppress his amusement. 

“Should I give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that that was just a warm up, o’dart master?” 

Akira’s pout returns, “Well if you’re so good at it then why don’t  _ you  _ show me how it’s done—”

The detective humors his unfinished command and effortlessly throws one of his own darts, the sharp metal point landing perfectly on the red dot in the dead center of the board. He turns back to see his date’s jaw dropped open slightly. He smiles and shakes his head. “When was the last time you played this game, actually?”

“When I was five and couldn’t even see the top of the board” he sighs. 

The brunette gives him a pitying smile. “Here,” he approaches him from behind and places his hands on Akira’s hips, pulling them back and sideways slightly to angle them “First, your stance needs to be more relaxed. You’re too stiff. Then you’ll lower your other arm a little more to your side, and your throwing arm more level with your eyes, like this—” his hands ghost across his shirt sleeves to push down on his forearm gently and angle it  _ just so.  _ His warm hands wrap around his own to reposition the dart more comfortably between his fingers as well. 

“There, that’s better. Now…” Akira feels the other’s chest press carefully around his back. Gloved fingers reach around him to gently caress his wrist and pull back ever so carefully. Urging the raven to look forward. Akira follows his movements while allowing him to take control, and together they thrust his forearm forward, sending the dart flying to land on a significantly better spot far closer to the center than originally. 

“ _ Hah _ ..” Akira can’t help but grin at the improvement, turning to face the other. “You’re a pretty good teacher—” 

He stops when he realizes how close they are to one another, faces a mere few inches apart. So close he can feels the other’s breath graze his lips. So quiet that he can hear his own heartbeat, and possibly the others. Akechi only smiles. 

“And you’re a good student.” 

  
  
  


They spend the remainder of the evening chatting, laughing, and playing darts. Swigging occasionally on their glasses and telling each other stories and laughing some more. Their activity going back and forth between teaching Akira how to play darts and pool like a sane person and Akechi ordering small bar meals for them insisting that the raven  _ has  _ to try strawberry and apple cream crepes before they can dare to leave. Begrudgingly, Akira ends up admitting to liking them, but says he’ll never stop teasing the other for his sweet tooth. 

Oh, and Akira does end up getting better at darts thanks to Akechi. Not pool though. After numerous attempts, the detective had officially informed him that he was a lost cause when it came to pool. 

Hours later and it’s late in the evening now. The sun had gone down long ago and now weary blurs of nightly blues and blacks weave color into the sky above, illuminated by the coming moon. Which is in turn obscured by nocturnally dark clouds. They chat on their way back. Chitters and laughter still echoing through the Kichijoji alleyways and eventually Shibuya. 

“Huh, it’s strange” says Akechi, “It’s normally much busier around this area, even at night.”

It  _ is  _ odd. The streets of Shibuya are typically filled to the brim with walkers and busy bodies, however the amount of people walking the paveways are somewhat lesser in numbers than normal. How strange. 

Their suspicions are soon graced with an answer as Akira feels a single drop of water fall on his nose. Then another on his hand. Then another. And another. He glances over at Akechi who seems to have taken notice as well. More gentle droplets continue to hit various parts of their skin until—

** _CrAcK—BOOM!!_ **

And just like, with barely so much as a warning, the bottom of the sky seemingly falls out as a downpour of rain begins beating down on them senselessly. Their coats as well as the rest of their clothes are instantly soaked through. The already freezing temperatures certainly don’t help their case either. 

_ Fuck.  _

Why. 

_ Why.  _

Akira’s head becomes bombarded with thoughts as he looks from the brunettes stricken face and down to the puddles of water quickly forming under his feet. 

Everything was going so fucking right. They’d laughed together, shared drinks, the whole day had even been picked by Akechi himself. Yet once again it’s all gone...wrong. 

He’d done everything right, he thought. Carefully chosen their dates, initiated conversations between them, and yet somehow in some way or another, it always managed to go horribly, inexplicably,  _ wrong.  _

It actually makes the raven feel guilty for even bringing the other boy into this whole mess. This whole soulmate shit business. Guilt rapidly builds in the pit of his stomach at the thought that he had completely wasted this man’s time. Made him nothing but miserable. He didn’t deserve this. 

Was Akechi right after all? Had the universe truly been wrong for once..? Is this the universe possibly trying to take back its mistake by sending signs of some messed up shit? Akira is beginning to think so. And to think, he thought he’d been starting to feel something for him. Something he’d never felt before. The feeling swells in his chest at all of it. All of it is unfair. For both of them. He feels tears beginning to prick at the corner of his eyes. 

Maybe he should’ve listened. He should’ve stopped. None of this awfulness would have been brought to them if he’d just let go of his insane fantasy of being with this boy— 

Giggling. 

His thoughts are cut off by the sound of giggling to his left. 

Akira lifts his face out of his tear and rain stained palms to look over and find Akechi giggling like a playful maniac, his laughter gradually increasing in stature until now he’s just absolutely losing it it looks like. His head throws itself back to the crying night sky and his laughter overpowers even that of the crashing onslaught of rain against the pavement. 

He’s smiling. 

_ Why.  _

Maybe Akira finally broke him or something. 

“Hey. Are you...okay..?”

Akechi’s howls diverge into cackles, and then subside into giggles that grow quieter and quieter until finally turning to the other with an unfathomable grin on his face. 

“Of course this date would be a mess. It’s  _ us _ ” his giggles revitalize themselves between his words like hiccups of joy, “The two most chaotic idiots in all of Japan.” 

Akira just stares at him for a moment. Awestruck. Confused. 

And then a smile pulls at his lips and he finds himself beaming at the other again. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


They’re still wearing their water logged clothes like a couple of idiots as they sneak their way across the university campus grounds. It’s the middle of the night now. The idea was all Akira’s and Akechi  _ insisted  _ that he show it to him. 

They had made a quick stop at the convenience store back in Shibuya for the balloons. They didn’t bother to grab any water bottles though as it shouldn’t be very hard at all to fill the rubber inflatables up anyway with the abundance of rain water arranged in the form of puddles around campus. 

They stay crouched as they move across the grounds, behind the the stairwells, brick walls, and sneaking around the trimmed hedges and bushes until finally making their way to the staff dorms. Specifically, Professor Ushimaru’s front door. 

“You’re sure that the cameras in this area are turned off? How?” Akechi whispers. 

“Oh I’m sure,” Akira whispers in response, slicking back his still soaked hair, “I have some...connections. And by connections, I mean my little sister who just so happens to way too good at computers for either of our own good.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” 

“Adopted” Akira shrugs. 

“Mr. Kurusu,” the young detective leans in closer to smile in his ear, hands playfully pushing against his chest and shoulder, “you  _ are  _ aware that hacking is considered a very serious crime, aren’t you~?” 

“Oh and sneaking around school grounds past curfew to throw projectiles at a staff member isn’t, Mr.  _ Detective? _ ” 

“Fair enough. Now show me why they call you  _ Joker.”  _

With that, Akira sneaks around idly from behind the corner of the tall brick building and up the small stack of stairs leading up to Ushimaru’s waiting front door. A quick swoop of his agile fingers presses against the small buzzer button, ringing the doorbell successfully before leaping over the stair rails and dashing behind the corner again to the waiting, and way too excited brunette. 

It takes a few moments but eventually Professor Ushimaru emerges from his quarters, still dressed in his usual overalls and slacks and grumbling out a “ _ Who’s there?? _ ” 

Akira finishes tying up the rubber knot and hands the water balloon to the brunette. 

“Just one, quick,  _ hard  _ throw is all it takes. Like you’re throwing a dart or something. Then he’ll be pissed, and soaked, and we'll laugh our asses off.” 

“This is for giving me a B- on that midterm history paper, you miserable bastard..” 

With that, Akechi whips his body around the corner and throws as hard as he can. The water-filled balloon slaps right on target and splashes across the unsuspecting professor’s face, drenching him completely in rain water. 

“ _ Plgugh, AGH— WHO THE HELL!?”  _

“Go, go— _ Go!”  _ Akira yanks the other by his soaked coat sleeve and pushes him to leave. 

The two boys take off across campus, dashing and running non stop as far as their legs can take them until making it to the back of the student dorm buildings and collapsing against the brick and mortar walls in wailing laughter and uncontrollable giggles. Surprising that nobody catches them just by the sound of their howls alone this late. Akechi in particular who can’t stop cackling like a maniac. 

“Did— Did you see his  _ face _ !? I’m—Oh fuck, oh god, oh god I  _ can’t—”  _

“Shit, pffft—I  _ KNOW.  _ God, I wish I could have recorded that.”

The detective’s breathing is heavy with continuous laughter. Once again eventually subsiding into giggles as he attempts to catch his breath finally. “My god, I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun before in my life. Thank you.”

“Ahaha don’t thank me, you’re the one that decided to give this dumbass a second chance at a date.”

“And I’m glad I did.”

They smile at each other warmly. Warmer than ever before. They stay like that for a few moments, basking in the quiet, cool air of the night. Hair a mess, clothes soaked, but their hearts beating and their spirits higher than ever. Although they probably should get out of these clothes soon before they catch cold in this weather. 

“Hey, Akechi—”

“Goro.” 

“Huh?” The raven pauses and looks at him. The other man is leaned up against the brick wall, smiling so warmly at him. Warmer than he’s ever seen him smile before. Warm enough to make him forget about the cold chill of the wind stinging his skin forever.

“Call me Goro.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  


They enter through the back door and take the emergency stairs to avoid any pesky hall monitors. Akira escorts him through the maze of hallways and corridors until finally arriving in front of the raven’s dorm where he gestures the other to step inside. 

The two of them immediately shed their drenched clothes (save for their underwear) and the raven scoops the discarded pieces up and takes them to the bathroom to hang them over the shower curtain rack above his tub to dry. He disappears into his room to dig around in his dresser drawers and reappears with a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants for Goro. A T-shirt and pajama pants for himself. He figures he’d let Goro have the more comfortable stuff. 

He watches as the other slips into the provided outfit with ease and then pulls back the hoodie to bury his face into the fabric, inhaling deeply and then sighing. 

“Smells like coffee” he smiles. “With a touch of fabric softener. I like it, thank you.”

Akira feels like his blush is about to burn a hole through his cheek. The image or Goro sniffing his clothes shouldn’t be adorable, yet it is. 

“W-Why don’t you sit down—Here, we can play games?” 

“Mm, I don’t think I’ve played any sort of video game in ages. Not since taking up detective work, that is” he says as he sits down comfortably on the small sofa in front of the TV. He idly picks up the remote and starts flipping through channels as Akira rummages around in the small kitchen area behind him. 

After a while, he emerges from behind the wall with two plates of curry well balanced along his arm and two steaming mugs of coffee in both hands. 

“Coffee and curry? That’s a bit of an off combination” Goro says while taking the mug and plate carefully from the other man. 

“Yeah, I was weird on it too at first. But then I started working for Sojiro, the owner of that cafè, and turns out it’s what his place is known for. He showed me how to make all of this too.” 

Goro appears skeptical but scoops a bite into his mouth anyway. His eyes instantly light up at the flavor. He glances between Akira and the plate and then back to the plate where his hand goes to work at shoveling it into his mouth, the other reaching for the piping mug set aside for him. 

“I take it you like it?”

“It’s fucking  _ delicious.” _

The raven snorts. “What happened to that prim and proper dialogue I was so used to?”

“Oh, my bad—  _ Ahem.  _ It is  _ absolutely  _ fucking delicious” the brunette raises a pinky while sipping his coffee for emphasis. Akira nearly spills his own mug from laughing. 

“Oh, but, you said something about games now?”

“Oh yeah—” the dark haired boy beams and reaches for two black controllers and hands one to Goro. “I hope you like Smash Bros. The new one, more specifically.” 

“Can’t say I’ve ever played it before. Or at least not since I was a kid.” Goro runs a hand through his hair and fiddles with the controller before gripping it tightly. “I’ll be sure to learn the ropes quick enough to demolish you though.”

“Ohoho, try me then, sweetheart—”

  
  


Their fictional brawls begin with quite a bang. Goro lost the first few rounds, unsurprisingly due to lack of experience, but quickly began to pick it up somehow.  _ Shit.  _ It’s baffling how determined he is when it comes to winning. Even for a game he hasn’t played since childhood and here he is kicking his ass with Chrom. For the next remaining games, he was able to go neck and neck with him. Tying up the score constantly. 

At one point the two even resort to playfully kicking and pushing against each other in a half-joking attempt to screw the other up and come out with a win. 

“Are you capable of using  _ any  _ other character??”

“Oh?” Goro smirks while twirling victoriously the controller between his fingers, “So you want me to kick your ass with someone else instead? Will that make you feel better, honey?”

“No, because you’ve already beat me using a third of the damn roster somehow. ‘ _ I haven’t played this in years,’  _ huh?” 

Goro giggles through his toothy grin. “I’m a rather quick learner.”

The room is immediately filled with arrangements of laughter and snorts, the two young men guffawing relentlessly through the air and leaning into each other as they play, sip their refills of coffee, and just simply talk. Akira merely looks over at the other and can’t help but swoon. Smiles and joy is such a good look for him. 

Eventually their laughter slows into hiccups and occasional bubbly giggles, and then a quiet, but not at all awkward silence. Rather, it’s comfortable. Welcomed. 

“Hey, Akira-?”

“Hm?” 

The brunette’s expression is pondering. His dark red eyes look down at his mug in a trace of thought as he smiles folds into something of a frown.

“I was thinking…” Goro searches the insides of his mug as he finds his words, “We haven’t really...you know, done that  _ thing  _ since that  _ day  _ in the hall?”

Akira stares at him for a moment. That  _ thing _ ? Wait. “Ohh, you mean...when we kissed?” 

“Ye...Yeah. I was just thinking about how we haven’t really  _ done  _ it since then and…” his breathing stutters a bit and he sounds almost  _ worried _ , “I—you don’t think that the whole ‘cosmic fate’ thing is wrong...do you?”

“You want to know if we’re still soulmates.” 

Goro looks up at him with concerned eyes. Akira supposes that is a fair question. Hell, after all, he’s  _ right _ . They  _ haven’t  _ kissed since that day. Obviously things between them truly have grown and blossomed into something more grand than initially. But is it still the same? 

Before all of this, the two had it out for each other in a way. Never spoke to one another hardly, always glared whenever they did make eye contact on occasions. Some sort of mutual contempt that lingered between their persons. It was the same for both of them that day.  _ Why him,  _ they thought.  _ Why him of all people in the world _ . It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that they were equally infuriatingly disappointed with their discovery. That they both viewed it as some stroke of terrible luck. And that the thought eventually morphed into one of questioning and whether or not it was a mistake as the dates went on. They both deemed it unfair that two people who digressed one another were being pushed together. Now they find themselves worrying if it’s the other way around now. 

Is the string still there?

“I want to kiss you, Akira.” 

It is more of a statement rather than a question as he’s already inching his way closer to him from the other end of the couch. Their hearts are beating so fast. Akira can actually feel his pulse pounding against his eardrums. Everything feels warmer. 

The detective places a hand on his knee and leans into him. He’s barely an inch away from his face now. Gray eyes locked together with ones of rouge. He can feel the other’s breath against his lips. The hand on his knee feels hot. All of these new senses are firing through his body and they haven’t even officially made contact yet. Goro is paused before him, unmoving and still. He’s already made the first move, maybe he’s waiting for him to follow through. 

_ Please work.  _

Akira’s lifts a hand to the other’s face, his palm warm against the detective’s jaw as his thumb strokes his cheek, the rest of his fingers threaded shallowly into his locks. He takes the leap and finally closes the gap between them. 

Part of him admittedly worries that he would bounce away, but clearly his suspicions are curved as the brunettes lips interlock with his own. The glow doesn’t even attempt to hide itself now. The faint red color illuminating more and more, creating an effervescent light between them that could brighten even the darkest of rooms as if it were day. Like a sun born between the sparks igniting their brand new flame, born purely from their newfound devotion. 

A simple usage of lips turns to tongue. Then to Goro reaching both hands for either side of the raven’s face to press them together as tightly as mortally possible. Their locking becomes more open mouthed and their breathing is frantic yet somehow in perfect sync with one another. The electricity is insane. Just like before, in the hallway, it feels as if a magnet is pulling them together and refuses to let go. 

Desire overtakes them and Akira finds himself pressing a hand against the other man’s chest, pushing him back to land softly against the cushions. Never once letting go of each other’s lips though, of course. He doesn’t hesitate to climb on top of the other, knees gently pushing the brunette’s legs apart as he settles between them carefully. Still kissing him into the sofa. 

The majority of the night is filled with far more of an intense electricity, accompanied by the sounds of a never ending streak of breathless kisses and shameless exclaims of ardor. 

  
  



	5. Nightmares of a Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a world of soulmates, it’s not as full of love as you’d think. In this chapter, we’ll get a rather different perspective on this soulmate phenomenon, and why exactly Goro is so afraid of it. 
> 
> *WARNING: TAGS UPDATED*
> 
> *READ BELOW*  
\- it’s a very very minor suicide mention, but I thought I should provide a warning just in case.   
\- this section of the story will delve into Goro’s back story, so as you can imagine, this chapter is all angst.   
\- If you’re not one for angst in your feel-good fics, I actually designed this chapter in a way where it’s not crucial to read in order to understand the rest of the plot, so it’s technically skippable if you don’t feel like reading angsty stuff. Again, it’s purely just Goro’s backstory and gives a deeper insight on why he’s like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL HI so sorry I forgot to upload on Saturday night again. Pokémon sword came and it just totally slipped my mind lmaooo

_ Cursed.  _

_ Unwanted.  _

_ Defective.  _

_ Hopeless.  _

That’s all he ever heard. 

That’s all anyone ever thought of him. 

Even before everything had happened. But  _ especially  _ after everything had happened. 

Akechi Goro’s earliest and oddly enough, most happiest memories were of the spring time years ago, when he was only so small. It was Sakura season, to be more specific. Imageries of delicate, vibrant wafts of pink that gently fell from their places along the foremost extended branches. Carried and caressed by the wind as far as the eye could see, grouped together with thousands— _ millions  _ of others as if it were a storm of petals. Until finally finding its place among the earth, whether that be the ground to be stepped on or the creeks to be swept away. Sounds familiar. 

“Goro, darling” the brunette said, extending a hand to the small child, “You want to go to Yoyogi Park to see the blossoms, don’t you? We’re going to miss the train if we don’t hurry.”

“I’m coming!” His small voice echoed with enthusiasm throughout their tiny Tokyo apartment as he fumbled down the hallway while simultaneously trying to slip on his sneakers. 

“What have I told you about running down the halls? You’ll hurt your yourself!”

“Sorry, mother..!” His words said apologetic but his tone said excitement. His mother sighed. 

“Do you need help with your shoes?”

“Mm-mm! I wanna learn how to tie them on my own...See!” Goro held up a single leg and wiggled his foot for emphasis. His mother merely smiled and took his hand in her own, leading them out the door and down the several flights of stairs of the rather shafty apartment complex. 

It was the same as any other walk to anywhere outside of the apartments. Harsh passing glares from a few of the neighbors who were far too nosey for their own good. Their judgmental eyes would burn holes into little Goro, but especially into his mother. There’s a reason why Goro walks rather quickly. He’d learned it from his mother, or at least it has become habit for him as she often hurried him away from their threatening stares. Always telling him to never once grace them with a returning glance. To always keep going. To always keep your chin up and eyes open. 

Although, back then, he never understood why. 

The memories of the train ride were still vivid. He remembers sitting closely to his mother, head resting against her shoulder and wavering himself from falling asleep to the gentle hums of the rails. The crowds were their usual loud buffer once they squeezed their way through and following the pale, freshly blown sidewalks until finally arriving to the park where they were instantly greeted by showers of pale pink petals. 

She lead him down to a patch of shade along one of the grassy hills and laid out a blanket she had packed. She sat with her legs extended out while Goro seemed content to rest his head on her lap, his soft red eyes gazing upwards at the swaying hazel-colored branches of the cherry blossom trees as the April breeze brushed through ever so gently. He remembers his mother holding his hand. Her thumb stroking along his knuckles in a soothing manner. 

His mother was kind. Hardworking and there for him always. He has fond memories of them doing things such as this. Going to the park to relax and play together, trips to local markets where she would allow the little one to choose a fresh catch for dinner on special holiday occasions, walking him to and from school, even taking days off from her overhaul of multiple jobs whenever he fell ill and had to stay home. 

His father on the other hand, was a different story. 

He didn't know much about the man. Mother refused to talk about him. All he knew were three things: That he and his mother were not soulmates apparently, that he was some “no-good man” as his mother put it, and that in the end, he left them. 

He also came to figure out overtime with age that he was the reason they struggled the way they did. It was thanks to him, that _ scum _ , that his mother had lost everything and reduced to almost nothing. 

His mother had a job in classical show business, as a singer and piano player among other instruments. She’d play for dinner parties and balls, commoners and politicians. That was how they met. It was the night years ago when she had been hired to play and sing for a Diet members banquet. He assumes he’d whoo’d over over with a few drinks, probably tried the old fashion kiss test only for it to obviously fail. A man like that probably doesn’t even  _ have  _ a soulmate. Would the universe even bother to grant someone so disgustingly iniquitous and vile an opportunity at eternal happiness? He assumes not. 

However the rules simply say no kissing. Everything else is…fair game. 

She arose from the hospital thirty-eight weeks later with a newborn son in her hands, and the father nowhere to be seen. He had already left months ago upon first learning that she was pregnant. Cut contact and everything. No note, no goodbye, no returned calls, nothing. 

Much would his mother come to learn soon afterwards though, that such intimate affairs between non-soulmates leading to something as extreme as childbirth would carry severe social consequences. 

His mother lost her place in her career. Gigs became scarcer and scarcer as no one would dare to hire her. They claimed she would “disgrace the event” with her presence. Bands moved on as well, saying that her newfound reputation would bury them under if they continued any further association. She was crushed. 

But she was determined to provide for the baby. 

Job searching became ten times more difficult than ever before. Even the most measly of companies refused to hire her “kind.” Their answer was no different than that of the gig offerers, saying she wasn’t good for business. Going back to school wasn’t much of an option either as they relayed the same excuse. Her only viable options for income at that point were low-end jobs. Waitress positions and part-time convenience clerk runs and the like. And she worked multiple of them. A day off like the one she’d had during the Sakura season with young Goro were extremely rare to her. 

In just one, single night of spontaneous intimacy, she had been instantly reduced from a praised and respected star…to wiping down tables at a local diner. Her life had gone from receiving immense bulks of fan mail and packages filling her post box to coming home to nastily worded post it notes and vandalism in the form of sharpie scribbles and paint spelling even nastier words across their apartment door. 

_ Cursed. You’re not welcomed. Whore.  _

_ Move out already! Freaks.  _

_ Should’ve thrown that thing out while you had the chance. _

_ Go away! _

_ Slut.  _

_ Waste of talent. An abomination lives here.  _

_ Tramp. Disgusting! Disgraceful.  _

_ _

_ Dirty freaks.  _

All the more reason why Goro was forever grateful to be able to lay upon her lap and look up at the petals. To feel his hand encompassed in hers. The more gentle experiences with his mother are the best he knew. He appreciated them with all his heart. Every breath she took, every petal that fell into her long brunette hair, every stroke of her thumb against his hand, he cherished it all. Every minute of it. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


“School was really good today, mama! I did good on that test...the one you made me study so hard for.” 

Goro’s tiny hand was held her own as he jumped excitedly up and down next to the bed, his rampant movements making the side of the mattress squeak slightly. It had been a good day for him, actually. It was his first day back from the elementary school’s annual week off after Christmas. 

“It started snowing a lot while I was in school, you know? I made a snowball on my way home and brought it in the house, I stuck it in the freezer. I wonder if we can make snow cones out of it!”

The air inside of the apartment was frigid. Perhaps his mother forgot to pay for the electricity again. Or maybe the sudden heavy fall of snow crashed one of the complex generators. Either that or someone felt like being spiteful again and clogged up their air condition vent up on the roof. Goro didn’t mind the cold though. 

“It’s really cold in here, did you know? Did you forget to pay the bill again, mama?” He laughed at his own cheerful humor. “I’m just kidding, it’s okay! I don’t mind the cold. I’ll just keep my coat on. It’s the one you bought me for Christmas, see!!”

The little boy pulled at the hems of his nylon padded coat for emphasis. It truly was nice. Rather expensive too, especially for their budget. He knew his mother had to have saved up and forked out quite a bit for it. She probably knew he’d love it, he’s been in great need of new winter wear. Something the kids won’t make fun of for having holes in it. 

She was right, Goro absolutely adores it! It was a dark red, his favorite color, and adorned silver buttons along the front. She had even taken the extra step to gift him a pair of mittens vibrant in the color white with some faint streaks of gold. More of Goro’s favorite colors. 

“I really like it, mama! I really do!” He said, holding up his mittened hands and waving them around for distinction. 

She said nothing and instead merely stared up at the ceiling above, still sprawled out comfortably on the mattress. A neutral expression on her features. Goro frowned. 

“....How was work today? You look really tired.”

He leaned against the side of the bed, arms crossed over the top of the mattress beside her and twiddled his thumbs. The faint sound of his sneakers childishly beating against each other as he fidgeted his heels together in boredom. 

“Hey mama, I know you work really, really hard...and those neighbors say mean things to you, don’t they? Well I just wanna say, that I think you’re the greatest mother ever. Thank you for working so hard for me all the time!” 

No response. Only another blank, mindless stare up at the cracked and water-stained ceiling tiles. Goro sighed to himself, but smiled softly. He leaned off the mattress, shifted on his feet, and settled for sitting on the floor. His back leaned up against the bed with his knees tucked to his chest. He felt content. 

“You don’t have to talk, mamma. I know you must be really tired. Get some rest, okay..?”

His eyes were droopy but he remained awake for the most part. Or at least until the sun began to set outside, the gentle orange rays peeking through the frost tinted glass. He allowed his eyes to wander around the room as he drifted away into an awkward nap. He thought nothing of the opened prescription bottle sitting idly on the nightstand. 

He thought nothing of it at the time. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


The orphanage was cold and dreary in the coming winter months soon after. His bed was a cheap one with a mattress full of holes and stains. The box springs creaking so much and sounding as if they were threatening to snap in half and collapse into the rickety wooden floor of the upstairs bedroom at any moment. 

What a horrible place, he thought. 

The caretakers of the facility didn’t even deserve to be called as such. Their overlapping desire for a paycheck trampled any bit of actual care most of them held. They scoffed at Goro specifically. Often times “forgetting” to call him for dinner, affording him less school supplies than the others, and overall just being unusually remissful when it came to his well-being. He didn’t understand why the longest time. 

What a horrible, horrible place. 

Overtime everything became clearer to him. For the worst part was undoubtedly the constant beratments and objectifications he had to hear day in and day out about his lineage in particular. 

Parents didn’t want him, to put it bluntly. Said he held too much of a “taboo history” as well as his likelihood for inheriting the rumored  _ curse.  _ The detachment from a possibility of a red string, all because he wasn’t created and born from such a bond. He had to hear about it whenever parents came in to look over child records to determine their choice of adoption. It was all he heard about. Every. Single. Time. 

_ Are you mad? I would never allow such a thing in my home!  _

_ Do you have any boys that aren’t...scandalous?  _

_ Oh no, no thank you. I’m sure he’s a fine boy but, we’re looking to have grandchildren one day.  _

_ With all due respect, I would rather a child who wasn't born from such...  _ _ unnatural circumstances. _

It’s not even a proven fact. It’s purely rumor. Supposedly it’s a genetic mishap that only occurs if a child is born from non-soulmates. As if their biological structure really had anything to do with the makeups of what fate decided. It wasn’t fair. 

What an absolutely horrible place. 

  
  
  


As time passes, the adoptioneers come to a conclusion. That Goro would likely not be getting into any homes in a normally stated process through adoption. The orphanage was becoming rather crowded too and room and resources were scarce. Foster care was decided as the only viable option for him. 

And here he had thought the  _ orphanage  _ was a dark place. The homes who had offered to take him in were no different, if anything, they were far worse. It was the same damn type of resentment he had to bear from the caretakers, except this time they were less required to actually give a shit about him. 

He was transferred from foster home to foster home. Often times it would be at random too. Child Protection Services knocking on the front door at some god-forsaken hour of the night to take him away. Each one of the homes were no different from one another though. It was all the same. Goro knew they didn’t willingly take him in out of the so called goodness of their hearts. It was for a paycheck. Just like his caretakers. That’s all it ever came down to in the end. 

Although some homes were different. Some had children that already lived there. Biological ones, of course. The difference in environment in this instance meaning  _ significantly worse.  _ The children typically turned out to be no better than their mindlessly prejudice parents. Pushing him around, berating him, breaking his toys on purpose. It was a never ending cycle of mistreatment and hurt. 

Until he started attending a certain local elementary school, that is. 

The constant opressment within his constantly changing homes had shaken him to his core and only lead him to believe that anywhere could’ve been similar. Any _ one _ could’ve been similar. 

It was an inner city school in Tokyo. Much to his surprise, the other students of his grade didn’t treat him like an outsider in the beginning. But instead, welcomed with open arms. He wasn’t sure what this change was or why they had treated him so differently than most children his age had, but he wasn’t opposed to it in the least. 

He even managed to make a rather close friend. A young girl around his own age in his class. He forgets her name actually. It was so long ago and the memory so blurred from his mind, he can’t really blame himself. 

All he remembers is that she had treated him with a kindness unlike any other. Accepted him. She was one of the first people of the class to welcome him wholeheartedly with a bright, beaming smile. She had even offered, or rather insisted him the seat in the empty desk next to hers. 

Throughout the remaining school year, their friendship grew. Blossomed into something Goro had never seen or felt before. It was a new yet forgoing experience for him. Definitely in contrast to the barrage of mistreats and shunning from his past peers in the orphanage and especially the children of the foster homes. They did just about anything together. Lunch, partner assignments, homework, recess, all of it. She had other friends, of course. Ones that Goro found difficult to talk to. Admittedly finding himself to feel awkward in the presence of someone he didn’t know. But gradually, he felt his sense of shyness melt ever so slowly. 

For the first time since the days of his mother, he began to feel like there was hope for him. 

_ “You know about soulmates dontcha, Goro-kun??” _

The words had automatically struck a nerve with him knowing his history regarding the whole idea of ‘soulmates.’ Yet with this girl, he felt a little more comfortable. 

_ “A little.”  _

_ “Do you think you have one?” _

That’s a question. The idea had crossed his mind once before during his time in the orphanage. All this time, he found himself surrounded by others who deemed him as cursed. He didn’t understand the concept of it very well. His mother rarely ever spoke about fated pairs, especially to him. He had always just assumed he carried that supposed ‘cursed gene’ and was cut off from the chance of having one. Although the idea of ‘eternal love’ was a bit of a heavy topic for a seven year old. However, so was the heavily believed notion that he’d be alone and isolated forever due to some curse. 

All he knew was what he’d heard from his friend as well as other kids. Supposedly it’s someone who you find yourself to be automatically drawn to. Someone you feel unusually content around. 

The more he thought about it, the more he wondered…

  
  
  
  


Of course his foster siblings just had to be attending the same elementary school as him, albeit a higher grade. But that didn’t matter. Word spread fast across the different year levels, especially when it was riding on the breath of truth cloaked in rumor. 

Damn them. 

All of them. 

Merely a month or two into second grade and already it fell apart. It was a drizzly morning, relaxing at first. He’d walked into the school with a skip in his step and a hope in his eyes. 

He vividly remembers his confusion seeing all of the various pairs of eyes belonging to so many students stealing quick glances at him. Some were looking at him as if he was some wild animal that had just wandered in through the front door. His expression wavered as he noticed them all. His stomach began twisting itself into knots when he heard faint whispers, some containing his name. He remembers his feet instinctively shuffling themselves to go faster, to get to his class as soon as possible. 

He remembers sliding open the door and frowning at the heads that turned to him. He especially remembers approaching his usual desk, only to be told by the occupant beside it that he was no longer welcomed there. 

Before long, he found himself being pushed away further and further. By his peers, his foster families, even his newfound friend whom he thought he had found comfort in. 

He was heart broken. Crushed. 

And it remained this way until he finally transferred schools. 

His childhood was a blur to him. The constant surrounding of rejection everywhere he went be it family, friends, or something more, pushed him into becoming the perfectionist he is. He took his feelings, wrapped them up, and stuck them in a bottle essentially and never dared to open it up to anyone. How could he anyway? Who would listen? Who would willingly hear it? More importantly, who would understand it? Nobody. He realized that after so many attempts to console the lonely feeling inside of him. 

This was his life now. 

He focused himself to his studies and career path. Growing up, he’d always imagined himself to at least be in a position where he could help others. He remembered his mother always complimenting his natural ability to solve simple puzzles and figure out the twist in every movie they watched, every book they read. She’d always told him that he should consider joining investigative units or something in law, that he’d do wonderful in it. He’s pretty sure that she was half joking when she said so, but he took her words to heart anyway. He took to being a solo detective of his own personal accord. 

Turns out, his mother was right after all. He  _ did _ have a bit of a knack for it and the art of persuasion alike. Before long, his career goals quickly began to gain track. He applied to a filing position for a local station at a young age and somehow or another he was able to prove his skills to them. The adults of the station noticed his interest in the field of sleuthing and jokingly assigned him a “case” involving finding some old woman’s missing cat. And believe it or not, he took it seriously and lo and behold he found the damn cat. All by going extra steps by following trails and asking locals which eventually lead him to finding the poor thing stuck on the roof of an apartment building across town. 

After that, they started putting him through more unofficial tests, then eventually  _ official  _ tests. By the time he was seventeen and just starting his second year of high school, he was recognized as officially the second youngest detective in Japanese history. Which earned him the title of the second coming of the Detective Prince. 

He’d long given up the idea of affection though. Or any sort of companionship for that matter. Overtime, he grew to accept the possibility that he may never have a soulmate and became content with the thought. Well, it was less a feeling of true content and more like Goro coming to terms with what he believed was truly his reality. He deemed it easier to be alone anyway. At least then, nobody could hurt him anymore. 

After all, he had to be honest with himself. Who at this point would ever truly love someone like him? So far the only ones who’d ever shown any “ _ love _ ” to him just abandoned him the moment they realized what he was. 

Why would Akira be different?

  
  
  



	6. What a Heart Wants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again, Goro is an emotionally constipated dumbass. Akira refuses to give up so easily though.
> 
> Sometimes things call for more drastic measures.
> 
> It’s now or never.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YIPPIEEE MORE EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTERS!!!

“ _ Ah—!!” _

Goro’s eyes fly open as he awakens with a startled gasp, face still half-buried against the plush pillows beneath his cheek and the rest of his nude body partially wrapped warmly within the comforter. 

For a brief moment, he wonders where he is. Then the distinct recollection of what happened immediately comes to his mind. 

Oh. 

Oh right. 

He glances around the room at the familiar bed covers and the sight of his and another’s clothes sprawled across the floor and his face instantly flushes a bright shade of pink at the memory of last night. Yeah, he remembers now. Yesterday had been quite... _ eventful  _ in more ways than one. 

It doesn’t strike him as uncomfortable in any way, however. He actually feels quite content, laying here on his side, deep red eyes gazing lazily at the picture frames arranged neatly on the nightstand beside the bed. 

One of the photographs depict a colorful image of a young girl with orange hair eagerly holding up duel peace signs while the old man next to her smiles slightly. Is this the little sister the raven had mentioned earlier? 

There’s another picture next to it that he finds to be unrecognizable, it’s Akira between two fairly older men. One with black hair, a similar shade to Akira’s except it is swayed to the side to cover over his right eye, and a daffodil tucked neatly into the pocket of his dress shirt. The other with brown hair worn with a centered part, wearing a suit and only slightly taller than Akira. They both have their arms draped over his shoulders and smiling. Goro doesn’t recall the raven ever mentioning these two to him before. Goro assumes they’re his...brothers or something. 

The third is a photograph of him centered between seven different people. He only manages to recognize the two blondes beside him, Takamaki and Sakamoto. The rest he’s never seen before, but assumes they’re obviously close friends. 

He sure does have a lot of...loved ones...

Goro lowers his eyes as a certain tightness begins to fill his chest. The other boy looks different in these. He’s smiling and surrounded by others. But why does that make his chest hurt? Akira looks... _ happy.  _

_ Everyone who’s ever loved you .  _

Goro squints at the photographs as the memories of that horribly vivid, reoccurring dream takes over his thoughts once again. 

_ Abandoned the moment they realized what you were. You can’t change.  _

Why _now_? Why are these horrible thoughts choosing to invade his mind now? He hasn’t had to deal with them for quite a while but suddenly because of one dream they decide to return. Can he not have a moment’s peace without feeling as if the entire world wants to crumble beneath his feet and swallow him whole? He can’t change. He’s already accepted this. But why is his mind—

_ Why would Akira be any different ? _

The feeling of tightness increases and he’s left to feel a sensation of...guilt? 

Oh, that’s right. Akira doesn’t know this little detail about him. He hasn’t told him about his past, or his lineage. 

Goro feels his breathing pick up as the unwelcome thoughts flood his head. 

But should he? What would he think though? Would Akira accept him? Would he feel disgusted? Deceived? Perhaps Goro should have told him sooner. But then would the other boy have ever bothered to have given him a chance in the first place? And what would happen if he does tell him?? Hell, maybe that dream was even a wake up call ironically enough. All of his peers turning against him so quickly once they discovered his secret. It can’t be that big of a deal anyway! He was shunned because they believed he would never have a fated pair, but now he does. So would the possibility of Akira becoming upset still be there..? Would he still be with him? Would he abandon him— No. He wouldn’t. Not Akira. Surely not...Right?

“Akira…” he mumbles to himself, still staring at the photos. 

Goro’s mind races with a million and one thoughts all at once when suddenly he pauses. A new thought crosses his consciousness at all of this of Akira. The brunette hesitantly rolls over to drape an arm across the side of the bed, the spot where Akira  _ should  _ be but isn’t. 

_ He didn’t leave did he..? _

Wait no. That’s stupid. Why would he leave his own dorm room? 

Goro decides to do the logical thing and actually get the hell up and put on some damn clothes. A chill instantly hits his skin when he pulls back the covers. Shit, he wishes they didn’t force these dorms to be so cold. He quickly searches the floor for his clothes— or rather,  _ Akira’s  _ clothes. A brief yawn escapes the detectives lips as he slips on a familiar pair of pajama pants and a white night shirt patterned with intricate black and white striped stars across the front and trudges tiredly out of the room. 

Instantly he is hit with the wafty aroma of coffee and something charring on the electric stove. The sleepy shuffling of his feet must have been louder than he thought because the moment he came around the corner, Akira practically spins around from his place in front of the stove to smile softly at him. 

“Good morning.”

Goro pauses at the foot of the kitchen and glances over to the sizzling pan behind him, curious about its contents. “You made breakfast..?” he groans sleepily. 

“Ah, yeah” Akira laughs, “I thought you looked pretty tired when I woke up so I just let you sleep while I raided your groceries for breakfast ingredients. It’s just scrambled eggs mixed into fried rice and coffee, and some scratch western pancakes, I figured it was the least I could do for my sleepy prince?” 

“We’re giving each other nicknames now?”

“Only if you like it.”

The brunette laughs, “I’m not opposed, no.” 

_ Cursed.  _

Goro pauses again. The return of his thoughts causes his smile to waver slightly, eyes lowering a bit. Shouldn’t he tell Akira, though? That would be the wiser choice probably. Secrets aren’t necessarily a good thing to keep in a relationship— Wait, this  _ is  _ a relationship isn’t it? Wait, no, what is he thinking, of course it is. That would be rather strange if they weren’t by now. Especially after last night… 

“What’s wrong?” 

Akira’s voice breaks him away from his thoughts. 

Goro raises his head to face the other man properly and— God damn it, that face. Why does he have to make that  _ face.  _ It’s the signature gaze he’s grown accustomed to but certainly not used to throughout their time together. The slight tilt of his head, that soft, concerned expression, yet smiling slightly. The tenderness practically radiating from his puppy-like gray eyes as he looks at him, it’s nothing but haunting. If there was one thing Goro couldn’t power through during all of those dates it was this god forsaken  _ face.  _

_ Okay, stop it. Tell him for God’s sakes.  _

“I just—”

“Wait, don’t move.” 

Akira sets the spatula aside and approaches him from across the tiny kitchen. His hands reach up to cup themselves around Goro’s face, then carefully pull him into a gentle, very dragged out kiss. The electrifying sensations are just as powerful as they were last night, a certain intensity that immediately courses throughout not just Goro’s lips, but rather his entire body which warms him instantly. He knows he’s supposed to be saying something serious and important right, but he can’t help but close his eyes and melt into the prolonged kiss. The raven pulls back to look him in the eyes with the softest expression and smile. 

“Okay. Now you can talk.” 

_ Fuck.  _

Well how does he expect him to speak after catching him off guard like that!? It isn’t fair. Goro doesn’t say anything and instead pouts, his face still cupped between Akira’s warm hands. 

The raven must have noticed his flusterment because now he’s giggling while holding his face. “Sorry, but you’re gonna have to get used to this because I just really,  _ really  _ like kissing you. I know we already did a lot of it last night but it’s still so...new to me. I can’t get enough of it, you know? Or you.” 

Why is it that every time Goro wants to be upset or pouty, this piece of work always serves to make him feel significantly warmer and better. He sure is making it difficult to be serious right now. Well, at least his overly optimistic and puppy-love attitude scares away the bad thoughts that kept lingering in his head. 

“No, I…” The brunette’s lips purse together as his blush spreads, “...like it too.” 

Akira giggles and pulls his face into another, quicker kiss. “Come on, come eat. I even managed to froth some milk for you using your microwave.” 

Finally, Goro just gives up and allows himself to smile. Why not? He’s earned it at this point. “Ah yes,the perks of having a barista for a boyf—?” 

Oh right. He should probably address that. 

“Akira?” 

“Hm?” Goro watches as the other goes to work at stuffing his obnoxiously handsome face with the small, flat cakes, but not before he scowls at the way he folds the pancakes and dips them in his coffee like some kind of fucking barbarian. 

“...For the sake of my sanity, I am going to ignore your borderline barbaric eating habits and just cut to the chase.” He sighs a bit anxiously as he fiddles with his mug, letting the sweet aromatic steam hit against his nostrils to level his inner feelings. “So, are we...you know, ‘boyfriends’ now? Or something.”

“Mmf, huh?” Muffles the raven whose face is currently stuffed to the brim with misshapen pancakes soaked in latte. He finally swallows and looks at him with a soft, concerned smile. “That’s what your worried about?” 

Goro doesn’t say anything and frowns as his eyes glance downward into his plate. 

“Of  _ course  _ we are” says Akira in the softest, gentlest tone possible. “Well I-I mean, if that’s what you  _ want  _ of course?”

“Well I mean, it was never really  _ addressed  _ officially, so I sort of thought I should, I guess ask…?” Great. Now he feels stupid. Although, he would be lying through his teeth if he said that Akira’s words didn’t make his heart flutter. Well, he probably can’t anyway, considering the way his chest is currently glowing. He should consider this a good thing shouldn’t he? 

He tucks a stray tuff of hair behind his ear and smiles back. “I’m glad though. Because yes, that  _ is  _ what I want.” 

“Good.” They both remain there like that in silence, a softer than usual smile adorning either of their faces, a gentle aura-like glow illuminating against the underside of the table. 

“Oh and for the record,” Akira reaches for another oddly sized breakfast cake and folds it in half even worse than the last time, obnoxiously dips it into his mug, and takes an even more obnoxious bite, “Pancakes in coffee are  _ delicious _ .” His thumb and index finger mimics a chef's kiss against his lips for emphasis. 

“On second thought, your culinary opinions might prove to be too ghastly for me in the long run. Perhaps we should settle for being fuck buddies.” 

He then holds the sad-looking, ugly little thing in front of him as it drips excess coffee over the table top. “Don’t knock it ‘till you try it?” 

“Oh I am knocking it and I am most certainly not trying it.” 

“Coward.”

“Why can’t you just use syrup like normal people?”

“Because that’s boring and generic? Hmph, maybe your pallet just isn’t  _ refined  _ enough.” He says as he takes another horrendously horking bite. 

“Mm, maybe you’re right. I do enjoy your coffee after all.”

“Okay that was a low blow.”

“You’re right and I’m not sorry.” 

“Oh, baby I like it when you’re mean to me.”

  
  


Their morning is as expected for the most part. Garrulous conversations and ramblings about anything and everything with some lazy, tired, half-laughter half-yawns mixed in. The events of last night had left the both of them feeling equally energetic as they were exhausted, making for some interesting talks. 

It feels nice, Goro thinks. Definitely a change of pace from the quietness that filled his mornings prior to meeting the other. 

Goro had finished his bowl of soft-scrambled tomago and set it to the side to focus on his second cup of coffee. He never in a million years would have guessed that Akira was such a fantastic cook upon first meeting him but here we was feeling content and more than grateful for some decent food for a change. He’s so used to getting by on skipped breakfasts and apples and water for lunch. It’s a nice and definitely healthier change. Part of him wonders if Akira had caught on to his bad habit of shitty meals and that’s why he’s been cooking him things so often. He isn’t complaining though. 

“Actually I’ve been meaning to ask, you said earlier that last night felt new to you.” Goro hums low in his throat, a playful smile pulling at his lips. “But, If anything you seemed quite…  _ experienced.”  _

He finds Akira nearly choking on his water at his statement extremely amusing. 

“What do you me—”

“You know what I mean.”

Akira rubs the back of his head bashfully, a little taken aback by the question while also somewhat embarrassed. “Well I mean,  _ yeah.  _ I’ve...done it before, but not like  _ that.”  _

“And what exactly is ‘ _ that?’”  _

It isn’t really an accusing tone, more so something playful. Hence why Goro kept smirking the whole time and resting his chin in his hand waiting for a response. He just likes to see the other be on the receiving end of the flustering comments every now and then. It’s refreshing, and adorable. 

“Probably the whole soulmate thing? I mean it’s never felt that intense before, sort of like that weird magnetic effect but times a hundred and it’s harder to pull away, if that makes sense.” The ravens blush deepens as well as his pout as he explains. This is fun. 

“And obviously there’s the fact that I’m doing it with someone I lo-lo-lo-la—uhh,  _ like. _ S-Someone I really like ahah.” The sudden sputter and turning of his head makes Goro curious, but he doesn’t push. 

_ Cursed. _

There it is again. Goro’s smile fades once more in the loud waking of his continuously torturous thoughts from this continuously torturous dream. The nightmare, he should say. 

Akira’s spill about whatever falls on deaf ears as the same dreams plays over and over in the detective’s mind. Vivid images of his caretakers, the crowded dark halls of the orphanage, his classmates, his piles of rejected university applications, his mother… it all begins to flood his mind unfairly. 

_ You don’t belong anywhere . _

But he’s been hiding it for so long. Keeping the fragile memories and secrets locked away behind his pretty, always pleasantly smiling face, never opened nor allowed to see the light of day. Yet making itself known to him in his dreams as if it were some sort of freakish reminder of what he is and how much pain it can cause him, how much it  _ has  _ caused him. The precautions he’s had to take just to avoid anyone from knowing, just so he could  _ live  _ properly. Even to the point of hiding his own lineage just so he would have a chance at getting accepted into  _ some  _ type of school. It’s how he even got here in the first place. 

_ He won’t stay .  _

Nevertheless, the truth is only serving to hold him back. He’s still not being entirely open with his own feelings, likely out of fear of Akira leaving. If he wants this, if he  _ truly wants  _ this, then it would likely be best to remove his mask. To just go ahead and rip off the bandaid essentially, so at least then he’ll know where this relationship will go and what he should do next. 

_ He’ll be ashamed of you . _

The detective intakes a deep breath and sighs. 

“Akira.”

The other man’s gray eyes flutter in curiosity as he looks up, taken aback by the sudden change in the brunette’s tone. “Yeah..?”

_ Just rip it off. Just rip it off. Just rip it off.  _

“There’s something I should...probably tell you. Er, no, rather, I  _ should  _ tell you.” 

He tilts his head. “Goro..?” 

“It makes me a little scared, admittedly, but I think you have the right to know if we’re going to be together like this.” 

Akira’s brows furrow in concern, clearly a little worried now. Fuck, now all he’s doing is making him worry with his hesitation to say a single word. “I don’t know what this is, but if you don’t feel comfortable, you don’t have to—”

“ _ No,  _ no I should. I really should. Please.” 

Akira sets down his mug with his elbows propped up against the table. His expression still says uneasiness, but he’s listening patiently. Goro mainly just needs a moment to sort out his thoughts before, you know, entrusting someone with his deepest, darkest secret. Someone who he wants to believe won’t be turned off or run away, but his stomach still can’t be rid itself of the knots binding it together and practically screaming that there’s no way he’ll stay. 

Goro unclenches his fist atop the table and silences the shuddering of his breath. He needs to trust this man. He needs to trust somebody for once. 

Just breathe. 

“I’ve only now just realized that I haven’t told you a thing about me really, especially regarding my past. Which is not exactly something I like to bring up. However, I feel that if we are going to have any sort of relationship, you should know.” His words hold a solemn tone to them, low and barely above a whisper. Akira listens intently and with an open heart as the boy before him goes on. 

“Apparently, my mother was in a relationship with some low-life of a man. Someone she had met during a performance— She was a singer, you see. Quite a gifted one at that. However, this man… he wasn’t her soulmate. It was something most would already consider to be taboo. Not long after, she became pregnant. She was swiftly discarded when he learned about it…” 

Goro proceeds to explain everything to him. His lineage, his mother’s fate, the cruelty of the orphanages and foster homes, everything. Akira watches as his expression wavers and shifts constantly throughout his life tale. Especially at the mention of his mother. He held a hint of a smile at the mention of their joyful, albeit short time together, which casually drops into a frown when he remembers. 

He explains the circumstances of his past relationships and what became of them. How others would quickly discard of him once they learned what he was. The constant feeling of abandonment he had faced. The things he had to do just to get to where he is now, as a detective. 

And as the story goes on, Akira is hit with a realization which swiftly turns to a form of guilt and regret. All those times he’d held the other in mild disfavor, thinking he was just some gaudy snob who was too good to be talked to, that he was some high and mighty celebrity drenched in vanity, some goody two shoes, know-it-all pleasant boy who humbly thought highly of himself… it wasn’t that at all. It wasn’t  _ any  _ of that. 

The fake smile he always wore on tv; it wasn’t just there for show, it was there to  _ protect himself _ . 

“So there, now you know.” Goro’s tone is quiet, pained. As if every word released from his lips was a jab to his heart. “You know the truth about me, that I’m someone’s bastard child, that I’m a scandal,”

“Goro—!”

“That I come from parents who weren’t even soulmates!” The last sentence came out as more of a soft, strained cry. And that’s when he notices the gentle stream of tears trailing from the puddle surrounding the base of his dark red eyes and down his cheeks. “I’m cursed. Everyone says I’m cursed. That it’s impossible for me to—”

“Would you  _ stop it!!”  _

His outburst catches him off guard for a moment before he looks back down again, averting his gaze.

“Akira, if you aren’t comfortable with...me, then you don’t have to stay. I don’t want to feel as if I’m forcing you into anything you didn’t ask for.”

“A-Are you kidding me?? Goro, do you honestly believe that I would just abandon you like that? That I would just throw you away over...what? Your  _ heritage?  _ Goro, I am  _ not  _ ashamed of you. I’m so sorry that you’ve been put through all of that, but please, I would  _ never  _ do something so awful to you like that.” 

Goro pauses. For what seems like a long moment, he remains silent with hints of tears still pricking at the corners of his eyes. Akira reaches across the table to hand him a napkin to which he takes it with a shakey hand and carefully wipes his eyes. Finally, he looks back up at him. 

“...Okay.” He sniffs. “You’re right...god, you’re right. It’s just that… this is why I was so hesitant from the beginning. After the whole kissing ordeal. I was so sure that you were someone who hated me and I guess I just...got scared.”

Akira’s shoulders drop. There it is again, that crippling guilt that was eating away at his rib cage a few minutes ago. God, he felt like such an idiot. 

“First of all, I never hated you. It was more like I just...got the wrong impression of what kind of person you are. And for that, I’m sorry.” 

“No, if anything  _ I  _ was the one that acted childish. Every time you tried to speak to me, I just blew it off as you trying to get under my skin.  _ I’m  _ sorry.” 

They both sit like that for a moment. A gentle sort of silence floating in the space between them. Something about Goro’s eyes though makes him feel as if he still has lingering doubts. Hell, that  _ is  _ a pretty fucked story. The things the detective went through, the suffering he’s endured all these years, in all honesty, Akira really can’t blame him for having such a fear of abandonment. Especially when he’s basically made a conscious effort to isolate himself from human relationships for so long. He’s so lonely… 

It makes Akira’s chest sink. 

“I’m sorry, but...I think I need a moment. I should go.”

“Goro—”

“No really, there’s a scheduled broadcast I’m supposed to attend later. I should go back to my own dorm and get ready.” The detective stands up from the table and gathers his things, heading over to the door and stopping to turn and address Akira, looking down at his attire. “Oh, uhh, I’ll just give these back to you next time I see you I suppose?” 

Akira says nothing, his brows merely knit into worry as he stares at the other boy currently sliding out of the door.

“Well...see you.” 

The disappearance of the detective followed by the click of the door confirms that he’s gone and left. 

And that’s that. 

Akira releases the sigh he’s been holding in and stands to straighten up the tiny kitchen area. The memory of what had just happened still zooming around in his head. 

Goro said he believed him but yet… he had such a solemn look on his face as he left. It didn’t sit right with the raven. 

Clearly there’s still doubt in Goro’s mind, despite the heated argument that had just taken place. It’s understandable why he would, admittedly. After all, it isn’t exactly easy to build back trust after being betrayed one too many times. After being abandoned, given the cold shoulder all because of people who refused to give you a chance beyond a misunderstanding. Akira knows that more than anybody. 

Maybe he has to convince him somehow. Make it clear that he  _ does  _ mean what he says. But what more can he do? Is it possible to change his mind on a whim like that—

Wait. 

_ “There’s a scheduled broadcast I’m supposed to attend later .” _

He said he had an interview…

What if…

Akira quickly digs around in his pocket for his phone, scrolling through his individual contacts until he finds the particular name he’s looking for. After a few moments of ringing consisting of Akira impatiently tapping his foot because  _ somebody  _ should really put down their crepe and tea and answer the  _ phone for once. _

“ _ ...Hello?” _

“Ann! I need something.”

_ “Oh. God, well hello to you too, yeah I’m doing well thanks for asking—” _

“ _ Okay _ , okay just, listen. You do your modeling and stuff at Akasaka Mitsuke, right?”

_ “Well...yeah?” _

“I have a favor to ask.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


“Alright we’re on in three…”

Late evening talk shows. AKA, Goro’s least favorite thing in existence. Especially this one in particular, ‘Tokyo Talk Tonight’ or whatever the fuck it’s called. It’s not like he bothers to even watch the interview after it’s live filmed. He could care less, really. 

All he can do is suck it up as he waits patiently, or rather dreads for the vain talk hosts currently seated across from him to begin bombarding him with equally obnoxious questions in some attempt to prod information about his personal life out of him. All the while thousands of fans who pretend to give a damn about him await at the edge of their seats for their beloved Detective Prince to utter literally anything through his lips. 

What a joke. 

The room is horrendously bright, first of all. The talk show set is practically littered with LED lights flashing a variety of colors to create a tacky rainbow pattern. Probably so it can match the extravagant rainbow stairs behind him, underneath a rainbow archway which  _ also,  _ is lined with horribly bright lights. 

Honestly, the fact that he hasn’t gone blind yet just from sitting here is some kind of miracle. 

“Two…”

The moment he’d set foot onto the stage, he had been immediately bombarded with high pitched cheers and squeals courtesy of his array of fangirls lined along the crowd. 

_ “Oh it’s Akechi-kun!!” _

_ “He’s so cool..!” _

_ “Isn’t he just gorgeous?” _

_ “Akechi-kun!! Akechi-kun!! Look over here!!” _

_ Ugh.  _

Now the detective finds himself planted on this gaudy bright red sofa in the middle of this gaudy talk show set surrounded by gaudy lights decorating the stage for its voguish viewers. Okay, now he’s just nitpicking. But how can he not? 

Honestly, the only reason he agreed to do this was for publicity’s sake. At least this might help to push his career path a little more in regards to reputation.

“Three…!”

Fake smiles on, now. 

“Welcome back! And now onto the hottest ‘meet-and-greet’ segment of today’s show…” the woman host’s voice beamed brightly into the camera, “After his previous appearance was so well-received, we’ve decided to have this fine gentleman join us once more for a very special segment!”

The voice of the male host takes over on cue, “It’s the young and charismatic Detective Prince, Akechi Goro!”

It takes all of Goro’s fathomable strength not to wince at the booms of squeeling emanating from the audience, especially the fangirls. First they blind him with these lights and now they’re trying to deafen him. He looks to the cameras anyway though and smiles pleasantly as always. 

“Hello there.” 

The show continues on as normal as any other interview. The two, overly-dressed show hosts brandishing him with a variety of questions regarding his work and just about any and every little detail talked about in media. Rumors, his personal life, his mark on the police force, how he’s doing in school, etc...mostly rumors though. The two entertainers would ask him a pop question about some silly misconception passed around or even just generic things about his work. 

Merely a few minutes into the show, however, the hosts decide to slap him with the most obscene question that he actually for once is not prepared for at all. 

“Say, Akechi-kun, while we’re onto the subject of miscellaneous rumors and what not, I have to ask.. ” the lady host inquires inquisitively, “I’ve been hearing some whispers around local sources lately, specifically your campus, about you finally discovering a soulmate of your own?”

Good thing Goro had finished his complimentary glass of water ages ago otherwise he would have inevitably spit it everywhere. 

Did he hear this correctly? Is he hearing things?? Dear god, this whole soulmate thing is beginning to feel more like an attached apparition than some fairy tale love story of fate everyone else has been lead to believe. 

“E-Excuse me?” You can actually see the moment his composure cracks at the sudden question, the way his eyes dart between the audience and the hosts until quickly settling on the hosts and shutting his dry mouth before seeming too suspicious. 

The other host next to her actually has the nerve to simply laugh. “Oho, I don’t believe I’ve heard of this rumor, but I must say that I too, am awfully curious about this now. Forgive us for prying into such a personal matter, but would you mind shedding a bit of light on this subject for us, Akechi-kun?” 

_ Oh, sure. As if you were so shy about prying into my personal life before.  _

“Um, well…”

The detective looks to the audience to find the appalling sight of a number of his fans literally gripping the edges of their seats in anticipation of some type of answer. It’s almost horrifying to look at. How the hell does he even respond to this question!? 

Goro fidgets in his seat a bit, racking his brain for some kind of an answer. All that manages to come to mind, however is the memory of the morning prior to all of this. Ah yes, his recurring nightmare. Even worse is the fact that it caused him to basically lash out at Akira. It’s been the only thing on his mind since he walked out of the dorms. 

Suddenly he’s filled with a sense of serious regret coupled with guilt. Akira was only trying to help him. Understand him. Something far more than what everyone else has tried, and yet he pushes him away. Why did he...do that? 

He settles for the good ol’ ‘laugh it off as if it’s nothing’ strategy. Anything to get these assholes  _ off  _ of this topic  _ immediately.  _ “Well, has there not always been discussion of my universally assigned partner amongst others? This seems about as significant as any other old chatter, ahaha.”

“Hmm, true, of course. However, we  _ have  _ heard a number of students interviewed report that they’ve actually witnessed you engaging in the so-called lèvres à lèvres, hm? Surely there is a reason for these unusual reportings.”

_ Lèvres à lèvres??  _ Bad French aside, that’s just a disgustingly cheesy way to put it. Can this interview be over already? This feels more like an interrogation now. Especially this god forsaken question in particular. Who did they even interview to get these reports!? Actually scratch that, why are they so concerned with his personal life that they’ve stooped to asking his own peers for information..? How creepy...Isn't this illegal? Perhaps he can file a police report for harassment against the local tabloid producers out of spite later. 

“Well I am sorry to say that I don’t have any sort of concrete answer for that question. I’m afraid I must chalk up these  _ reports  _ to be nothing more than mere, mindless rumor—”

“He’s lying, he so DOES have a soulmate!!” 

_ W-What? _

The sudden roar of a familiar voice erupts through the crowd, causing Goro’s, as well as everyone else in the room to instantly whip their heads in its direction. 

_ No, wait...is that..? No. No it’s not. No it’s not. It can’t be.  _

“Oh my, what’s this? Why, this completely goes against your earlier statement just now, Akechi-kun.” 

“W-Why yes, it certainly does…” says Goro, baffled. 

Just then, the other host straightens her skirt before standing up to address the mystery culprit daring to call out the detective’s lie. “You, young man in the crowd—Come up to the stage!” 

The bright lights cause the figure of the mysterious person to be obscured into a shadow until eventually he rises from his seat to address the hostess. And  _ that _ , is when Goro feels his face go pale and his stomach nearly drop to the floor. 

Meanwhile in the crowd...

_ “I hope you know that this is only gonna end in one of two ways: Either one, he realizes how dumb you both are and you kiss and live happily ever after, or two, he’s so upset that he’ll never want to speak to you ever again.” _

_ “Let’s hope it’s the former.” _

Ann’s attempts to reason with her friend are futile as he stands to make his way over to the interview set. 

And to Goro’s absolute horror, it is exactly who he thinks it is. 

The audience is a loud and rambunctious mixture of whispers and deranged chatter as Akira simply  _ waltz’s _ up to the place of the interview and take his seat comfortably close to the detective. Goro responds by scooching over slightly only for Akira to close the distance again while the hosts wait for the crowd to quiet down. 

Goro has to resist strangling him on the spot as he grits his teeth together and whispers to the other  _ “What. Are. You. Doing.” _

_ “Proving to you that everything you said about me earlier was wrong by declaring my undying love for you on live television.”  _ It all came out so quickly and nonchalant, as if he was taking a god damn order. It is infuriating. 

_ “How the hell did you even get here!?” _

_ “Oh, remember my friend Ann? She’s a model. Does most of her photo shoots and what not in this building. She managed to squeeze me in for free tickets to your show.” _

“ _ Do you have ANY idea how stupid this is?” _

_ “Oh babe, you don’t have to worry. I don’t mind dealing with your angry fangirls afterwards.” _

_ “Trust me, it’s not the fangirls you’ll have to worry about strangling you later—” _

“Well, well, so you  _ do  _ know this person, Akechi-kun?” The host’s inquiring snaps the both of them out of their argument. 

“N-No—”

“Yes, yes he does.”

The glare he gives Akira just then is so intense it could kill a thousand men if he stared long enough. It’s like looking directly into the sun. Except for Akira, he doesn’t mind the heat one bit. 

“Well, I’d say it would appear that you two are  _ quite _ acquainted with each other given that heated banter that just took place the moment he stepped on stage.”

The detective says nothing which proves to be a huge mistake as it leaves Akira with dangerously plentiful room to speak his mind. “Ohh, yeah. We are. Definitely. Especially after last night’s ‘talk.’” 

For fuck’s  _ sake.  _

“What is your name, young man?” asks the hostess. 

“Kurusu Akira,” he says as he waggles his eyebrows slightly. Goro has never wanted to punch a face so badly.

“Ahh I see” says the host. “Well then, care to elaborate on your earlier statement from the crowd? I’m sure we’re all  _ very  _ interested to hear what you meant.”

Akira’s smug smile just makes this a million times worse. “Absolutely. Like I said, he’s totally lying and he  _ totally  _ has a soulmate.”

“Oh? And how exactly do you know this for certain?”

“It’s simple,”

For a moment, it feels like the room is spinning and time has slowed down. You could cut the tension in this damn room with a knife it’s so thick. Goro can feel himself sweating, his heart beating as fast as a drum in the midst of a marching band parade, almost like a drum roll leading up to his inevitable embarrassment. The audience listening so intently, the hosts probably thinking of nothing else except for the enormous ratings racking up at this very moment, all of it hinging on Akira and his absurd antics that Goro  _ still  _ has no idea what the hell he's doing with this. 

“I’m his soulmate.” 

Despite how nonchalant and smug it came out, the audience practically bursts into flames with their shock. The hosts looking equally as stunned at this revelation. And then there’s Goro, looking like he’s about to faint at any given moment but refusing to do so because he’s pretty sure he’d rather die than give Akira any opportunity to hold him lovingly in his arms in front of god knows how many people now. 

“ _ Really  _ now?! That’s  _ quite  _ a bold declaration there. I assume this means you two have actually kissed before then, correct?” 

“N-No! We haven’t!!” 

“Oh, honey. There’s no need to be so shy.  _ Yes _ , we’ve kissed before… Many,  _ many,  _ times before.” Akira purrs while reaching for the others hand, stroking his thumb against his knuckles in an obnoxious display of affection. The audience and hosts eat it up like mad. 

“Well now! It appears we’re at some sort of stand-still between the two of you. On one hand, Kurusu-kun claims that the both of you are fated pairs, and on the other hand Akechi-kun insists that you’ve never even met” says the hostess. 

“You know, there  _ is  _ an easy way to tell which one is telling the truth here.” 

Oh no. 

No, no, no—

“I propose a little test” the host continues. “Why don’t the two of you simply attempt to kiss one another, that’ll surely prove which one is correct!”

Akira laughs, “Oh, I  _ love  _ that idea.” 

Is he mad!? Why is he so intent on doing this in front of everybody? Doesn’t Akira have any remote idea of what doing this will mean? He already told that idiot that he isn’t obligated to stay with him like this. He doesn’t need to  _ prove  _ himself. He doesn’t have to be with somebody like Goro. Why put himself into a position where everyone will see the two of them’s relationship and expect it to hold together? Why put himself into a position where he won’t be able to walk away? 

“H-Hold on a moment!! We  _ don’t  _ have to do this—”

“Well what’s the harm? If he turns out to not be your soulmate like you say then the two of you should simply repel one another and bounce back, correct? But if it turns out that this young man is telling the truth and he really is your long-awaited partner of destiny, then that’ll be a good thing, yes?” 

It’s torture. The worst part is that Goro can’t even argue with that logic. In any other normal circumstance or situation, there would absolutely be no harm in doing this. The brunette internally curses himself for agreeing to sign that lawsuit waver before coming on the show. 

“I-I…”

He can’t refuse...can he? That would only look even more suspicious. Is he seriously going to have to just bite his tongue and do this? 

Fine.  _ Fine.  _ Akira is the one who asked for this anyway,  _ not  _ him. 

“Fine, if you are  _ so  _ intent on proving your claim then...go ahead!” 

Akira uncrosses his legs and smiles at him, turning on his seat to face the detective head-on as Goro does the same. The brunette steals a nervous glance at the audience to find them acting more fidgety than ever in their tiny little chairs. The two shill hosts nearly lean off the edge of their seats as well as they watch with hawk-like eyes. 

“Wait a minute” Akira pauses, “Let me get a little comfortable first—” 

The raven takes a quick moment to ‘adjust’ himself. His careful hand reaches up to grab at his glasses, sliding the frames away from his face with an almost fictitious sort of grace to reveal the smokey gray eyes hiding behind them. Eyes that are full of such a plethora of emotion despite being in the form of a calm, straightforward, thousand-yard stare. Or perhaps it’s because Goro had grown so used to looking into those gorgeous eyes over the last month. His other hand reaches it’s way up to entangle itself within his hair, running his boney fingers through the mast of thick, dark curls and effectively slicking them back away from his forehead, revealing the entirety of his alluring facial features. 

Finally, as a finishing touch, the bastard actually has the honest-to-god nerve to produce a stick of chapstick from his pocket and lick his lips tantalizingly, mockingly, before applying the clear coat of gel to the ample pink edges. Then in a fit of teasing, he fits the cap back on and smacks his lips together loudly. All the while staring the detective dead in the eyes with half-lidded ones. 

Fuck. 

“Okay, I’m ready when you are, sweetie.” 

God, god,  _ god.  _ What the  _ fuck.  _ This is  _ not _ fair.

The brunette complies anyway despite it taking everything in his power to not pop a boner on live television right then and there. 

The detective turns to face the other man properly, determined to accept his challenge. They lean into one another, closer...and closer...and closer. Never once taking their eyes off of each other, not even for a moment. Time has stopped around them it seems. The air is silent. There’s nothing between them, nothing to stop them from doing this. Nothing to get in the way of them colliding into each other mouth-first. Goro’s heart is beating  _ fast.  _ His breathing is picking up too yet he does his best to steady himself as his face inches closer and closer to Akira’s, eyes mindlessly closing themselves as he braces for the inevitable magnetic pull that’s sure to come at some point when they become close enough. 

The reverberant sounds of Akira’s dark chuckling causes him to open his eyes a tad as the other man casually extends his arms, one placed against Goro’s lower back while the other entangles itself into his brown locks, caressing his nape fondly. 

The last thing he sees is Akira’s zealous smile before he’s pulled to his feet and dipped down backwards with the raven hovering over him, immediately dipping his own body down to crash his lips eagerly with his. His slender fingers grip and tug at the back of his head and pulls him closer, as close to his mouth as the detective can possibly be as Akira’s tongue prods at the entrance of his mouth, pushing through and twisting the smooth muscle together with his. 

Goro’s blush is equal to that of a sunburn. His face instantly feels hot as does his chest as it glows along with the other man’s. Especially when he hears, or rather  _ feels  _ Akira moan deliciously into the kiss. 

The kiss, if you can even call it that as it’s more like lip sex or something, seemingly lasts forever and leaves Goro in such a daze. For those moments, those long, titillating moments, it’s just the two of them. Nobody else, just them. Just two lovers locked into an eternal embrace in which nothing could possibly be powerful enough to pull them apart, not even themselves. It feels dizzying, yet clear. As if Goro is trapped in some sort of dream-like state except he’s awake and fully aware. 

After what seems like an eternity, he finally feels the other carefully and slowly unlock his lips from his own and pull away. When Goro’s eyes open he’s immediately greeted with the color gray. Half-lidded eyes staring back into his own with more love than he’s ever felt in his entire life. The sense of sound begins to return to his ears slowly and that’s when he can recognize the booming and screaming, the hollering and cheering, the insane roar of the audience behind them. For a long moment, he isn’t sure what to do. He simply stands there, dipped over the sofa and held lovingly within Akira’s arms. 

Eventually, his eyes widen and instantly he feels his emotions become ablaze, effectively snapping out of his trance. Immediately, he grabs for Akira’s sleeves and runs, pulls him off of the set and runs to the back of the curtains away from anything and everything. 

He yanks against the other boys sleeves and before he knows it he feels tears streaming down his face uncontrollably, a mixture of sadness, anger, frustration, happiness and everything in between. His voice breaks and he’s unable to speak below anything but a high pitched yell in the midst of his angry crying. 

“Why!? Why did you DO THAT, you IDIOT— DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID!?”

“OF COURSE I DID THAT’S WHY I DID IT—”

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM?? You can’t leave now!! Don’t you realize that!? Now you’ll just be expected to stay with me—”

“What!?”

“Even when you’re tired of me and get sick of me...You just made it harder for yourself when you’ll have to leave one day—!!”

“That’s not true!!”

“How can you say that when you know where I come from now—”

“THAT DOESN'T MATTER TO ME.” Akira interrupts his screams of pure frustration with his own as he wraps his arms around his tall figure and pulls the other into a tight hug. “NONE OF THAT MATTERS TO ME!!”

“I don’t care that your parents weren’t soulmates, or that nobody thinks you deserve to be with someone. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met, I think you’re beautiful. I think your smile is beautiful and your voice and your laugh and even your nerdy featherman obsession are all beautiful and a part of what makes you YOU. And I love that about you more than anything!! 

In that moment, Goro’s fit comes to a sudden halt at the ringing of Akira’s words. The slender yet strong arms tighten themselves around his equal in stature figure and pulls him as close as humanly possible as all he can do is listen for once. It takes him a second to register the wet streams running down his neck and shoulder blade as Akira crying. 

“Who gives a damn what everyone else thinks, I don’t care what the whole  _ world  _ thinks.” His fingers pull at the fabric of his tan peacoat, nails threatening to dig into the skin of his back despite the thick layers of clothing beneath them. 

“Shit. Don’t you get it!? I  _ love  _ you.” 

The brunette’s mind nearly shuts down at the words. It’s something he hasn’t heard in...a very long time. 

“I LOVE you, you fucking idiot!!”

Something he thought he’d never hear again. 

He’s speechless. Stricken. Before long, his own hands reach upwards, past the underside of Akira’s arms and to his back, pulling him into his own tight hug as he buries his face into the crook of his neck. 

“Akira…” he breathes, “I’m sorry...I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not believing in you.”

“Don’t apologize,” Akira whispers into the tuffs of his brunette hair, “I just want you to do me a favor and remember all of that instead. I’m sorry for going against your wishes like that. Especially in front of so many people. But don’t you think for a second that I’m ever going to stop loving you.” 

Goro’s hands come up to roughly push back against Akira’s chest before sinking his fingers into the crevice of his white summer jacket and yanks him into a kiss like before. It doesn’t feel any less mesmerizing as it did a few minutes ago on stage. The warmth of his chest brighter and hotter than ever, especially against his lover’s. He takes as long as he needs before finally pulling back and looking him in his eyes, his eyes that are just as stained with tears as his and smiles. 

“I promise.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;^)


	7. Epilogue

_ Two years later. _

  
  


Since that day, Akechi Goro and Kurusu Akira had agreed to something, or more rather, created. A bond if you will. A promise. A flicker of hope kindled brightly within one another as equals in their newfound partnership together. 

Goro came to grow exceptionally close to not just Akira, but his friends as well. He and Ann agreed to go on more shopping sprees together as well as crepe-scapades as they call it, with Ann, of course, having to promise that she’ll never lock him in the same room with Akira again (although now he wouldn’t exactly mind). 

For Ryuji, the two of them, along with Akira, grew to appreciate each other’s company as athletic companions. With of course,  _ Goro _ having to refrain from anymore drooling. The same rule applying to the  _ other _ as well. 

Akira had insisted upon Goro finally meeting his parents after so long as well, who had greeted him with open arms the moment he set foot through their door for the holiday. It was a different feeling for him. A new one. A familial presence he hadn’t felt in  _ years _ . 

Time passed, graduation day came. Akira graduated with a major in business and a minor in photography. His employer at Cafè Leblanc proudly handed over ownership of the place, albeit threatening that if Akira dared to ever so much as screw up a simple decaf pour-over for one of his regulars, he would not hesitate to waltz back in and snatch the keys out of his hands, legal repercussions be damned. 

As for Goro himself, he graduated with honors with a four year major in law and a minor in philosophy. He overall kept to his career path in law enforcement as a fully licensed solo detective, while also trying his hand in the field of Child Protective Services. It was Akira’s idea. He claimed that the thought of Goro reaching out to children stuck in situations such as the one he was in might be something he’d find to be rather good at. Especially with the passion behind it. Turns out he was right. 

After enough planning and careful amount of saving up funds, they managed to move into a rather hospitable apartment together in Roppongi. Akira insisted they take Morgana with them, much to Goro’s dismay at first, but eventually the feline grew to like his presence. 

  
  
  
  


Now Goro currently finds himself in Asakusa in the middle of January being led around by his annoying boyfriend of two and a half years. 

“A-Akira, slow down— where are we even going?” 

“It’s a surprise!” the raven laughs. “But I promise you’ll love it.”

After some more coat-sleeve pulling, they finally arrive at their apparent destination. Goro tilts his head back more and more just to get a decent view of the absurdly tall building until bringing it slowly back down to glance at the glass doors waiting before him along with his smiling lover. 

“The  _ Sky Tower?  _ I thought I told you that I hated heights?” 

“Oh I know, but you’ve been getting better and better at dealing with your fear and I think  _ this  _ will help you get over it quite a bit.”

“I’m not so sure it works like that” the brunette shakes his head, amused. 

“We’ll just have to see then, I suppose.” The dark haired man extends a hand out to the other. 

“Just don’t be upset with me when I inevitably vomit up that nice dinner from earlier.”

“Please don’t, that mackerel was more expensive than I would’ve liked it to be.” Goro rolls his eyes but takes his hand anyway and allows the other to pull him inside. 

The inside is rather spacious and decorative, lined with gift shops around the lobby. He’s expecting to have to wait in a rather lengthy line for the lifts, but he doesn't mind. It’s their off weekend from work anyway. Waits in lines are never long lasting anyway when Akira is constantly trying to make him smile, be it sending him random cat videos or people-watching those waiting with them. 

Although, to his surprise he finds the lobby completely empty. Same with the line for the lift to the top. 

“That’s strange..?” The detective gestures. “I thought that this place was a rather popular tourist attraction. Where are all of the people?”

Akira rocks back and forth childishly on heels. “Maybe it’s because it’s late in the night?”

“That doesn’t make any sense but I’m afraid I’m too enraptured in the dread of being literally six hundred meters in the air to question it too deeply”

After they're finally through and taken up by the lifts, the raven reaches for his gloved hand once more and escorts him inside the top room of the tower. He is definitely aware of Goro’s lingering fear of heights though, so he goes slow instead of pulling him along impatiently. 

“Don’t be scared, I promise you’ll love it” the dark haired man says softly. 

“You’ve been saying that for the past  _ hour.”  _

“That’s because as soon as you see this view, you’ll believe me.”

Admittedly, he  _ is  _ nervous. And shaking a bit, but Akira’s grip on his hand urges to calm him down as he walks him closer to the outer window of the room. 

“It’s okay, I’m not letting go.” 

Goro doesn’t care though and instead pulls him closer into more of a shoulder-to-shoulder embrace out of quiet nervousness. Akira smiles and keeps him walking. 

When they finally reach the window, he signals for the brunette to finally open his eyes. Slowly, cautiously, he allows himself to peek through the hiding place behind his lashes, until eventually his wonder gets the best of him and they fully open. 

He’s greeted with a sight no words can describe. It’s all of Asakusa, and Sumida, and Kichijoji, and just a wide expanse of all of Tokyo right beneath him. All lit up stunningly under the glare of the midnight stars. Countless numbers of lights shedding from buildings and skyscrapers form a careful orchestra of colors and shines before his eyes. Suddenly, he forgets that he had a fear of heights. 

“It’s beautiful…”

“It is” Akira says as he stands behind him, rubbing his arms and shoulders up and down lovingly. “I told you you’d love it. You should learn to trust me a little more often.” 

“Hey I’m  _ here  _ at all, aren’t I?”

“Hm, I suppose you are” Akira smiles into his hair. 

They remain like that for a few minutes. Just the two of them, gazing at the array of lights and stars underneath the moon. Them, and only them in the comfort of one another’s presence in this entire tower. Even now, the glows from their chests burn pleasantly through their layers of winter clothing. 

Akira’s grip on his arms loosen a bit as he slides his hands down to his encompass own. He leans closer to whisper softly into Goro’s ear. 

“I’m just gonna take my coat off, so I’m gonna let go for a second, okay?” 

“Okay” Goro responds half-mindedly, far too enthralled in the beauty of the view before him. 

Obviously he’s never been anywhere nearly as high up as this before. The last time he can recall is the time he and Akira went on that Ferris wheel date a couple of years ago. The memory still exists within his mind quite fondly, as well as every other disaster date. Sometimes their times together will go comically wrong, but at this point they’ve learned to laugh it off. As Goro said on the day of their one lucky date from long ago, _ “they are the two biggest idiots in Japan after all.” _

Actually, now that he thinks about it, this whole day Akira planned out for the two of them is… 

Walk through the park, art museum, a few shots at the billiard, sushi for dinner, and now the Sky Tower. 

It’s awfully...coincidental… 

“Hey.”

The detective turns away from the hypnotically beautiful view of the window to find something that leaves him far more breathless. 

Akira, down on one knee, a single open box lying carefully within his hands as he presents the ring inside to the man before him. A look of pure, unfiltered warmth in his smokey eyes as he gazed up at him with an endearing smile. Goro feels his heart seize up and race all at once. 

“A...Akira..?”

“Akechi Goro, Detective Prince, lover of crepes and opera, cheater at Gun-About,” 

“You c-can’t cheat at Gun-About, dumbass…” the words come out shakily as the tears begin falling down his face, past his quivering smile and breathless short laughs. 

“ …My soulmate. Will you marry me?”

Goro says nothing as he lunges forward into Akira’s kneeled body, wrapping his arms around his neck and hiccuping soft cries mixed with laughter against his shoulder. 

“....I take it that’s a yes?” 

The detective laughs into the crook of his neck and nods his head as he does his best to muster an answer through his quiet sobs of joy. “Yes...yes, yes, yes!” 

The two sit like that for a moment, trapped in each other’s warm embrace and never wanting to let go. A comfortable silence between the two of them. Their chests illuminated gently against the starlit darkness of the top of the tower. 

“Oh, and by the way, I had Haru rent the entire tower just for this. In case you hadn’t already figured that out.” 

“I-I sort of figured.”

Akira smiles and wraps his arms around the other in return. 

“I love you, Goro.”

His hiccups manage to finally slow down just enough for him to form a proper answer. “I love you too...Akira.” 

This floor is uncomfortable, but hell, they don’t care. Especially Goro. Everything until now that’s led up to this, he never would’ve imagined it. If someone had told him five years ago that he would be able to experience something like this, have someone he wanted who wanted him in return, he would’ve laughed. 

Akira gives them both a few minutes to process, then starts to giggle into the other’s hair. 

“Alright, don’t get me wrong. This is nice and romantic and all but, my spine hurts” he says, gesturing to their awkward position on the floor. “Plus I want you to actually see the ring and tell me if you like it?”

“Akira, you could give me a  _ Ring Pop  _ and I would be happy and grateful.”

He finally lets go and sits back to face the window, Akira scooting behind him to wrap his arms around his waist and rest his chin on his shoulder. He watches with a grin as Goro removes the engagement ring from the case and examines it closely. 

It’s a simple engagement ring, really. A thin band of white gold with a round cut diamond in the center. But beautiful nonetheless. Especially when it’s around  _ his  _ finger. 

He sits there and twiddles it between his fingers, admiring the way it reflects the city lights and catches his eye. Fitting it onto his fourth finger and rubbing the smooth material with his thumb, smiling. 

“Hey, Akira..?”

“Hm?” he hums. 

“You took Soul Studies right?”

“Yeah, it was a pre-req. Unfortunately...” he mumbled the last part. 

“Remember the whole theory about… _ fate _ and how it’s..  _ ‘ever-dimensional and existential’  _ and what not?”

“You mean that weird theory about fate tying into like… different realities?”

“Yes…”

“Oh. I mean I never paid attention to that because I thought it was crazy, but sure.”

The brunette giggles for a second, shaking his head. 

“Well… I never gave it much thought, or soulmate things much thought in general because of my life before, as you know. But now that I have one… all of this… and  _ you _ , it’s making me give it thought lately. Especially now.” 

Akira listens intently as he tries to get the words out. 

“This might sound silly but, I have to wonder,” Goro speaks softly as he looks out through the shone glass veering the bright city below. “Do you think that maybe it’s… possible. What I mean is…” he trails off. He tilts his head back to look upwards at the stars blinking in the pitch-black sky, thinking. 

“I wonder if we’re still fated to be together like this… in another time.”

Akira hugs him tighter. He cranes the other’s head back gently to look at him then, smiling. 

“Well, I would sure hope so.” 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank y’all so so much for reading. This is legit the biggest, longest thing I’ve ever written and I’m so pleased with it and I hope y’all are too! 
> 
> And with that said, this concludes the soulmate AU. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed :^]


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